Dorothy Isabel GALLINGER

Dorothy Isabel (Gallinger) de Verteuil October 7, 1923 ~ February 12, 2005 Dorothy was born in the Township of Cornwall, the daughter of Arthur Albert and Maude Ellen (Gallant) Gallinger, and grew up in Cornwall until the age of 23 when she bravely boarded a steamship from New York and travelled to Trinidad, West Indies to marry her fiance, Frank de Verteuil, on the 20th of April 1946. From that day on Dorothy's life became an exciting adventure! The young couple had two children, Dianne in 1947 and John, in 1950. In 1953 they moved to Anaco, Venezuela and lived there until 1965. Because of revolutions in the country Dorothy asked if they could return to Canada ~ in fact, on their last night there they were caught in a bombing raid. After drinking champagne at the airport out of paper cups early in the morning, the family returned to Canada to settle in North Vancouver, British Columbia. After living in the Tropics for so many years Dorothy and Frank found Canada much too cold so they moved to Miami, Florida in 1971 with their son John. Dianne stayed in Canada as she was married with children and had become used to the mild West Coast weather. Frank and Dorothy were divorced in January 1972, but the couple remained good friends forever. Dorothy worked as a Secretary at the Americana Hotel in Miami Beach, several Chartered Accountants, the Youth Services for Dade County, on the computer for Miami Vice/Airport Division, and then got a job in Saudi Arabia at King Faisal's Hospital as Secretary to the Head of Pharmacy, where she spent 8 years. During that time Dorothy took the opportunity to see the world and visited Australia (Sydney and Brisbane); New Zealand; Singapore; Thailand; Sri Lanka; India (Bombay, New Delhi, Calcutta); Hong Kong; China ( Beijing, Katmandu, Shanghai); Seoul, South Korea; Tokyo, Japan; Karachi; Pakistan; Islamabad; Damascus; Syria; Jordan; Ankara, Turkey; Cyprus; Athens, Greece; Rome, Italy; Vienna, Austria; Berlin, Germany; Oslo, Sweden; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Paris, France; London, England; Madrid and Seville, Spain; Lisbon and the Algarve, Portugal; Rabat, Morocco; Tripoli, Lybia; Cairo, Egypt; most of the West Indian Islands; Mexico City and Acapulco, Mexico; the Hawaiian Islands; as well as many cities in the U.S. and Canada. In fact, she visited many of those places more than once. She saw the Great Wall of China, the Taj Majal, Tiger Top Village, The Wailing Wall; the Great Pyramids, rode camels and elephants and floated down the Nile River. While in Saudi Arabia, Dorothy made friends with the Bedouin women in the souks and by the end of her stay there she had one of the world's largest private collections of antique Bedouin jewelry. She would spend hours in the souks going through tin cans of ancient coins and beads and would bring them home to reconstruct the old necklaces. She sold many of them as time passed, due to the "pressure" from her friends. In fact, Dorothy was offered a trip around the world on one of the major cruise ships at one time, if she would give lectures on the Bedouins, but she declined saying "I have already been around the world, but thank you very much." Dorothy returned to Miami eventually as her son John was ill, and he passed away in March 2000 at the young age of 49. John was born with a hole in his heart and had open heart surgery when he was 11 years old, and later had Hodgekin's cancer. Eventually his heart gave out. Dorothy was devastated and in 2002 returned to Canada to live with Dianne and her grandchildren Shane and Julia. At this point Dorothy had been diagnosed with Waldenstrom's macroglobulemeia and unfortunately advanced dementia of the Alzheimer's type. In the end, her immune system was compromised, and she decided it might be time to go home. She longed to return to Cornwall for one last visit to see her family and talked about her life there all of the time, recounting stories of her sisters and her parents and family. One of her favorite stories was about the time she won a live turkey and brought it home late at night, waking up the whole house! She had planned to return to Florida to live out her remaining days ~ her bags were packed ~ but at the last minute she came down with shingles. One of the last things Dorothy said before she went home was "Look! There's the whole family ~ my Mother and my Father ~ in the Church, with the beautiful light of God". The family was preparing her to come home and Dorothy died peacefully in the early morning of February 12th, 2005, in a hospital in Seattle, Washington. The reason that Dorothy died in Seattle was because Canada Immigration no longer recognized her as a third generation Canadian and refused to give her back her citizenship saying that she would be a burden on the Medical System. Dorothy will, however, be buried in Canada, the home of her birth, and the country she so loved. Her favorite T-shirt said CANADA on it, and she wore that around the world as well, and proudly so! Dorothy was a gentle person, an extrovert, and she loved the world she lived in. After her retirement, she became a Registered Massage Therapist and helped many people. She loved the beauty of flowers and the pink of a sunset at the end of the day. She used to say "Every day you should find at least one beautiful thing in this world, whether it is a small flower growing out of a crack in the sidewalk, or a spectacular sunset in the evening ~ but take the time every day to find one beautiful thing", and that is how she lived her life. Dorothy is survived by her daughter, Dianne, grandchildren Shane and Julia, her eldest sister Irene O'Brien and her youngest sister Lillian Edwards, and so many nieces and nephews and cousins and friends that it is impossible to name them all ~ but you know who you are as Dorothy touched your hearts and you will remember her stories and love for a long time to come. Dianne, Shane and Julia will have a private remembrance of our beloved Mother and grandmother, but we plan to have a remembrance of Dorothy's life with family and friends when we are ready. If Roses Grow In Heaven If roses grow in Heaven Lord, please pick a bunch for me. Place them in my Mother's arms, and tell her they are from me. Tell her I love her and I miss her, and when she turns to smile Place a kiss upon her cheek and hold her for a while. Because remembering her is easy, I do it every day......... - 2/26/2005 - ID5740950