Dorothy passed on in a nursing home in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts on November 18, 2009, in the arms of her daughter after a struggle with illness. She raised a family in Pleasanton, California from the early 1960s through the 1990s then moved to neighboring Livermore, California. Dorothy moved to Massachusetts in 2003 then to Connecticut in mid-2009. Born in 1937 in Washington D.C., Dorothy graduated from D.C.'s Western High School in 1955. While driving cross-country looking for adventure, she settled in New Mexico, where she met and married Bill Gordon, fine art photographer and Sandia Lab engineer. They raised two children in Pleasanton before Bill passed on in 1989.
Dorothy and her artistic passion bloomed in Pleasanton and Livermore, and she continued to flourish in Boston, Massachusetts, where she had a gallery show in 2007. Over the years, she showed her paintings, drawings and sculptures in many Livermore-Pleasanton art fairs and galleries, as well as in San Francisco, Hayward, other Bay Area cities, and in Los Angeles. She drew numerous portraits on anything handy, from a napkin to a large canvas. Dorothy also loved to teach art, especially to children. She taught art in local schools and juvenile prisons on an ad hoc basis during the 1990s and also taught children in her Livermore art studio. She enjoyed overseeing a joint mural project with juvenile prisoners at a Bay Area facility, and painted other murals in the Bay Area.
Ever the free spirit, whether riding her tiny scooter to her Sunol studio in the 1980s, sculpting with "found objects" from dumpsters and the roadside, or sketching locals on her trips to the middle east, Turkey and Ireland, Dorothy most enjoyed art and connecting with people. She also loved writing poetry, especially with religious and spiritual themes.
(Cynthia Tyler took the above photos at Dorothy's 2007 art show in Boston
and kindly supplied them for Dorothy's memorial website. Thank you Cynthia!)
dearest Father
teach me unfaltering listening skills
that i at once may do Thy will. keep
me attentive, keep me mild, obedient
like a little child. leaning on your
unerring skill, keep me wise and keep
me still.
~~~~~
each poem to survive
must have a grain of truth
a halo around its words pro-
claiming its' glory--simple,
a new beginning, winning
converts to its story
~~~~~
Dorothy sketching in Turkey, 2008
(Nancy Fischer provided the above photos of Dorothy sketching in Turkey in 2008. Thank you Nancy!)
Dorothy with friend Fei in Boston (circa 2007)
Dorothy in Boston, circa 2008
Dorothy in South Boston, circa 2008 (photo by David Miller, Dorothy's friend and a professional photographer. Thank you David!)
Dorothy is survived by her son John, daughter Jennifer, and Jennifer's children Aimee, Justin and Jacob.