Obituary of Dorothy Campbell
CAMPBELL, Dorothy - With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of our Wife, Mom and Gramma, Dorothy; who passed away with her loving family by her side on Thursday, August 8th, 2019 at the age of 81.Beloved wife of Murray for 60 years. Cherished mother of Sherri (Hugh) Glass, Blair ( Kathy) Campbell and Kristi Pederson. Loving Gramma of Cole, Brett, Carley, Danny, Colin and Kallie. She is predeceased by her sister Lillie. Mom was passionate about her family, her pets and her sports. Dorothy was a long standing member of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority. We will miss her dearly. The family wishes to extend a sincere thank you to all of the staff at the
Eulogy For Dorothy Louise Campbell
Born in St. Catharines on December 10th, 1937, Dorothy Louise was an early Christmas gift for Chuck and Dorothy Newton and a little sister for Lillie.
Dorothy Lou grew up to be a beautiful and brilliant young lady and soon her dad had his eye on a boy he thought would make a good match for her. As fate would have it, that boy just happened to live across the street from the Campbell family. It didn’t take long for Dorothy to take notice of the Campbell’s eldest boy Murray and for Dorothy to catch Murray’s eye. By pure coincidence Murray’s path to school everyday took him right by Dorothy’s house on Maple Street and, surely by equal coincidence, Dorothy started popping out the front door on her way to school at the exact same time Murray walked by everyday. Chuck wasn’t too pleased with this turn of events, but Dorothy’s mom soon made it clear to him that if Murray was the guy her daughter wanted to spend time with, that was way it was going to be. And so began a 65 year love affair that never wavered. Even in her final days, Mom’s smile would light up the room with love every time she caught sight of Dad in her hospital room
Murray and Dorothy began their married life together on September 26th, 1959. This year would have been their 60th anniversary. Mom and Dad started out living in an apartment on Woodland Avenue before they made the plunge and became home owners on Rochelle Drive before finally moving into their dream home on Greenleaf Court. Wherever they lived, mom would make their house a home filled with love. They had 3 children, Sherri, Blair and Kristi and 6 grandchildren, Cole & Brett, Carley & Danny and Colin & Kallie. Mom would often look and marvel at her family around her and say how proud she was that all this came from her and Dad!!
Mom was a study in contradictions in many ways. Small in stature, she was mighty and feisty in spirit; she was quiet and shy and never liked to be the centre of attention, but she loved get togethers – laughing and enjoying the company of family and friends. She was a bit timid about more adventurous things like swimming and airplanes, but she’d bravely stare down whatever challenges life threw at her. She was ultra competitive, doggedly determined, sometimes stubborn, and fiercely loyal and protective of her family. Mom was undisputedly in charge of our family. She would often talk about the early days with Dad when he thought it might be a good idea to drop out of school and get a job. Mom made it clear that he’d better finish school if he wanted to keep going out with her so of course he did. That set the tone for mom ruling the roost in our family but always with love and caring for all of us.
Mom and Dad created a lifetime of happy memories for our family with cottaging in Bobcaygeon and Buckhorn, vacationing in Myrtle Beach, family Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving dinners and countless birthday parties and summer family barbecues. Mom always made it special for us.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Mom was a smart cookie. She was proud of her scholastic achievements – she won the Grade 12 Commercial award and delighted in letting us know that it was no surprise to her that we excelled in Math! Mom enjoyed a career as an executive secretary (she could type lightening fast) working at Foster Wheeler, WestPark Secondary School as well as CMT International.
Mom was an avid bowler and Beta Sigma Phi Sorority member and she loved to cheer on her favourite hockey team every chance she got (yes, that was the Bruins!!) Mom had a tremendous love of animals and we always had a pet cat in our home. Not to worry Mom - we will carry on the tradition of the christmas cakes, turkey stuffing and picnic beans!
Mom loved cheering on her kids and grandkids at all their sporting events be it hockey, figure skating, soccer, ringette, baseball or track & field – but she wasn’t exactly impartial - in her eyes we should have won every game we played and if we didn’t she could easily rationalize how we actually did win just the scoreboard didn’t reflect our obvious greatness.
For us, mom was the world’s greatest mom. She was always there to support us in everything we did, she listened to all our hopes and dreams and disappointments. She was our biggest cheerleader in good times and wiped our tears when life was hard. She was always there to help us – sometimes staying up with us into the wee hours of the morning to type out our school essays, always sending us weekly care packages of homemade food when we were away at school and of course enforcing strict curfews (well maybe not for Kristi) to make sure we got our proper rest (or some other reason that she never really explained).
When the grandchildren came along, Mom enveloped them into her care as well. She and Dad have played a big role in helping to care for our children, be it providing babysitting and after school care, taking kids to practices and games, or bragging to everyone about their accomplishments…. whatever was needed to make sure their grandchildren were happy, healthy and well loved.
Mom had many health challenges over the years. We almost lost her in her 40’s to a serious gallbladder infection and that ultimately led to kidney failure, dialysis and ultimately a kidney transplant and then finally Alzheimer’s. She was known to say – “Getting old isn’t for cowards” and “It’s a good life if you don’t weaken”. Mom was definitely not a coward nor was she weak! Through it all, Mom never ever complained, and she always bravely fought her way back to health never letting her challenges keep her from enjoying life and spending happy times with family and friends.
Mom – We are grateful and honoured to be your children and we hope we’ve done you proud. If we are as strong, smart, courageous and as brave as you, we will be set for life.
Our hearts are broken at your passing but a heart that is broken is a heart that’s been loved. Mom, you were an angel in the shape of our mom!