It is with much sadness that the Club announce the loss of Dorothy Taylor, one of our longest serving members.
Eulogy by Judith Webb, Neighbour and sister Soroptimist
It is with great sadness that I write about Dorothy but it is also a privilege to tell you about her.
Early life
I first met Dorothy in 1986 when we had both moved in to our new bungalows in Ripon and amazingly as we got to know each other we found we had been living parallel lives. In our youth, we both lived on King’s Road, and attended Harrogate Grammar School. Dorothy had been appointed Head Girl. Eventually after some time working in chemical research, which led to some interesting incidents she became a primary school teacher and finally a head teacher at Husthwaite, a country primary school.
Family Life
Dorothy married Maurice and they had three children, now there are also four grandchildren and five great grandchildren. It was a partnership that has seen them work together throughout the years in many different aspects including youth work. They have also presented lectures and entertainments over a wide range of subjects and worked together to further success of various organisations.
Work with other organisations
A keen supporter of the National Trust Dorothy was a volunteer guide at Fountains Abbey for many years along with Maurice and they received the Trust’s 25 year Award . She was Chairman of the Dales Centre now Harrogate and the Dales Association of the National Trust, leading speaker meetings, visiting properties and fundraising. Dorothy is part of the legacy of Ripon U3A, in helping set it up and its first chairman.
Many talents
A talented artist, many of us will remember receiving beautiful painted cards but she was also a keen botanical painter which involves an accurate depiction of the flowers .Dorothy loved her garden and spent many hours among the trees, shrubs and flowers. The pots in the front garden were always colourful and seasonal.
Reader in the Church of England
Some of us will remember going to see Dorothy licensed as a Reader in the Church of England. For many years she has expressed her deep Christian faith. She regularly led services at the Chapel of St. John in Ripon.
And now to her Soroptimism
Dorothy was a member for almost 44 years and was responsible for my introduction. She was President in 1984/85 and worked on all our teams over the years. At Region she was Press and Publicity officer in the early 1990’s.
She had a great sense of fun and if dressing up was involved Dorothy was there – be it an Edwardian stall holder, a Peruvian peasant and a pantomime Chinese emperor to name but three. She was also renowned for her cooking skills especially her delicious cake baking. However she was often a wise counsel when decision making was involved and put forward ideas to support our aims. Speakers could expect searching questions and Dorothy gave interesting talks herself on a variety of carefully researched subjects.
Despite her ongoing mobility issues Dorothy continued to attend our meetings, joining in the life of the club until very recently. She died shortly before her 90th birthday. I know Club members we will always remember Dorothy for a life well lived often in the service of others.
Judith Webb
Club members attended Dorothy’s funeral at Ripon Cathedral on 14th July. A wonderful service to remember and celebrate a life well lived.