DOROTHY VELMA MATHIESON

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DOROTHY VELMA MATHIESON July 13, 1922 - July 9, 2012 Dorothy Mathieson (nee Gray) died peacefully at Kingston General Hospital following a series of illnesses suffered during 2011 and 2012. A Winnipeg native, Dorothy graduated from Gordon Bell High School in 1939 and moved to Ottawa, where she worked for the Wartime Prices and Trade Board. In 1946 she returned to her home town, worked for the Great West Life Assurance Company and met her husband to be, Don Mathieson. They were married in October 1948 and had two sons, Evan and Peter. Evan and Amelia (Stuart) live in Surrey BC, with their children Heather and John; Peter lives in Kingston with his daughter Courtney. As a mature student, Dorothy attended the university of Winnipeg, where she studied history, law and political science. As a staunch Liberal, she became President of the Manitoba Wolseley Constituency, where Izzy Asper got his foothold to become the party's provincial leader. Dorothy worked as an auctioneer's clerk in the family business. Gray's Auction Mart, and eventually became Winnipeg's First female auctioneer, succeeding her father, Sefton Gray. In 1983 Don took early retirement, accepted a three year contract with Empire Life, and the family moved to Kingston. A woman of wit, a superb cook, a car driver without a peer throughout North America and Britain, Dorothy will be sadly missed by all who knew her. In her 38 years from 1969 through 2006, she made 30 trips to Britain, where she drove well over 150,000 miles with emphasis on journeys to Scotland, the Midlands and Cornwall. On five such jaunts in the 1990s we were accompanied by her brother Melvin Gray. The family wish to thank Dr. Julia Helinski and her associates at Kingston General Hospital for the help they provided throughout Dorothy's ordeals. Family and friends will be received at the Gordon F. Tompkins Funeral Homes - 435 Davis Drive, Kingston, Ontario (Taylor Kidd Blvd. and Centennial Drive) on Friday, July 13, 2012 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Cremation has taken place. For those who wish, donations may be made to the U.H.K.F. - South Eastern Ontario Cancer Clinic in her memory.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 11, 2012