Parcourez la nécrologie de Dorothea Sheasby 2023 résidant dans la province Ontario pour le détail des funérailles

Obituary
On the morning of Wednesday, November 8th, surrounded by family, Dorothea took her last breath. We are all heartbroken but filled with gratitude for her inspirational life and legacy, and her boundless love.
We are grateful that Dorothea is now with so many of her loved ones, including her beloved son, Henry Gordon (Gordy), her first precious great-granddaughter, Lola Bea, her son-in-law, Bill and Edward Gordon. She is survived by her children, Trish (Neil), Bruce (Deidra) and Charlotte, her grandchildren, Emily (Pete), Raoul, Aiden (Meredith), Mary-Jane (Mack), Jennie (Kam), Kelsey (Joey), Alex (Alexi), Bruce (Maddi) and Ira, her great-grandchildren, Theo, Louis and Freya, her sister-in-law, Ingrid, nephews, Volker and Rainer and their families, and her much loved cousins, Rudi, Hubert, Gudrun and Roland and all their families.
We are also grateful to all who were involved in her daily support and care after Dorothea suffered a number of serious health challenges and then began to decline further in the last number of years – to Mini Saravan, to all at Amica Erin Mills, McCall Rehab and, especially, over the last three and half years, to Karla Da Silva and the kind people at Wyndham Manor in Oakville who cared for Dorothea and to whom she never failed to express her gratitude with grace. We are especially grateful for the love and kindness of Gloria Tumaneng who assisted with such compassionate care for Dorothea over the last four years.
Dorothea had the greenest of thumbs. Her home was filled with plants and she loved working in her garden – in later years, with her dear friend Mr. Jamieson. She loved swimming and dancing every chance she got. She delighted in feeding and watching the birds and butterflies and small creatures in her garden. She loved flirting and chocolate.
A persistent optimist with a deep faith in God, great love for her family, respect for all people and a tenacious commitment to protecting the environment and encouraging peace and justice, Dorothea believed firmly in the power of one – that each of us have the capacity to take meaningful action and bring about positive change.
Born on her grandfather’s sprawling farm in what was then Kensau, West Prussia on July 5, 1931, Dorothea’s early childhood was an idyllic one. She loved visiting and caring for the animals, learning about the miracle of plant life and walking in the nearby forests. By all accounts, little Doti, as she was known, alternatively enchanted and exacerbated members of her family and the people who worked on the property with her high spirits and penchant for mischief. The infectious smile that would get her out of most jams in those early years continued to light up her entire face and every room she was in until her final days. Dorothea adored her parents, Reinhold and Charlotte, her sister Gabriele, her best friend Uschi and her deeply loved little brother, Joachim – all with whom we have faith she is now joyfully reunited.
With the arrival of the war in 1939, Dorothea’s idyllic life quickly grew darker and she learned, first-hand, of the violence and destruction that can grow from intolerance and hate. Her childhood experience of war and, then her subsequent life as a refugee, deeply impacted her and informed her outlook for the rest of her life.
Immigrating to Canada on her own with very little English at the age of 20, Dorothea was at times a model, a nanny, a waitress and a nurse’s aid. She travelled from Halifax to Montreal, to Winnipeg and eventually to Vancouver, only stopping when she reached the west coast and met her future husband, the dashing young lawyer, Gord Sheasby, while swimming in the ocean, and made up her mind that he and this new place were where she could be happy.
When she became a mother, Dorothea taught her four children that kindness and compassion for others, for animals and for our environment, and opposition to injustice, were the most important attributes we could espouse. She taught those same lessons to numerous Sunday School classes, first in Vancouver and then Mississauga, for many years. And, when she became a grandmother, Omi, as she was called, not just by her grandchildren but also by many of their friends, delighted in time spent with her little sunshines and froggies. True blessings were felt in the days before she died when Omi would briefly open her eyes and smile with such joy on visits and phone calls with her loved ones.
Dorothea’s nurturing spilled over to the friends of her children and then to their mothers in her neighbourhood in the 1970s. She started two groups, the Applewood Neighbours and Applewood Friends in Mississauga encouraging women at home to have an opportunity to get together once a month to share ideas and offer support regarding daily life. Each group also sponsored an international foster child. Around the same time, she volunteered to write a weekly column for The Mississauga News that focussed on neighbourhood events and family matters. And sometimes embarrassed her children.
When her children were older, Dorothea returned to school (which had ended with the war) and obtained diplomas in Human Resource Administration and then Gerontology. Far ahead of her time, she realized the vital importance of physical and mental fitness for the well-being of the elderly and started the Learn and Live Friendship Club where she conducted weekly exercise and information sessions for seniors. Around the same time, she also began working towards the establishment of an innovative, non-profit seniors’ home based on these same philosophies. She formed a volunteer board and worked for a number of years to try and establish The Keep Active Retirement Home. Sadly, her attempt to find an affordable site eventually fell through and she was forced to give up the project.
She spent a number of years as an activation coordinator, planning music and activities for residents, at what were then called nursing homes but, after getting fired at a number of them because of her relentless patient advocacy, she launched her own business, Dorothea’s Senior Aid Services, and in that capacity, cared for many ailing seniors in their homes and became a friend and support to many, as well as to their families.
In 1980, Dorothea formed the first Amnesty International group in Mississauga at Applewood United Church and was still active and writing letters more than 25 years later. For a time, she was also the Capital Punishment Abolition Coordinator for the Toronto head office, coordinated a panel at OISE featuring Clayton Ruby and led actions outside embassies and consulates.
In the early 1980s, she joined The World Federalists, a group also dedicated to changing the UN and served on the board through most of the 1990s. Dorothea was also a long-time member of Peel Peacemakers and, for several years, served on the Peel Board of Education Equity for Race Relations Board. In 1998, she was invited to assist with the campaign to combat and dismantle discrimination in schools.
Through the 1980s and 90s, Dorothea spoke at numerous schools and universities about human rights, social and environmental justice, the elimination of land mines and nuclear weapons, and the prevention of weapons in space. She was an early proponent of the International Criminal Court and the Declaration of Human Responsibilities which she fought for, with her dear friend, Dr. Harold Suderman, to be enshrined at the UN.
From 1982, she worked with her mentor, the indomitable Helen Tucker, for the Registry of World Citizens and in 1997, when she took over from Helen as the Registrar of World Citizens in Canada, she worked tirelessly to try and connect the many voices of NGOS for peace and for the reform of the United Nations. The goal – to make the UN a more effective and equitable body through the abolition of the veto, a more democratic Security Council and, most importantly, the establishment of a Peoples’ Assembly (a second house made up of global elders who would not be cowed by national interests but who would promote decisions and actions for the best of all mankind). Dorothea was a member of the Administrative Council for the Registry, and travelled to the head office in Paris, France on a number of occasions.
Dorothea advocated for and supported many important organizations including Voice of Women for Peace, Physicians for Global Survival, ICAN, The Peace Research Institute, Science for Peace, Peace Magazine, International School Peace Gardens, Mayors for Peace, Veterans Against Nuclear Arms, Press for Conversion, the International Peace Bureau, Doctors Without Borders, Mines Action Canada, the Association of World Citizens (U.S.), Ceasefire.ca, the Institute of Global Peacework, Conscience Canada and many more.
In 2000, Dorothea was named as one of 35 Special Consultants to the International Association of Educators for World Peace. In 2002, she was awarded the YMCA Peace Medallion and in 2017, she received the Muriel Duckworth Award for Peace Activism from the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace.
Her partners in peace and social justice over the years were many. She deeply valued all who served on the Registry’s volunteer board of directors and all who walked the path towards peace with her – Dr. Hanna Newcombe, Douglas Mattern and Daniel Durand were special mentors. How thrilled she was when Setsuko Thurlow, a Hiroshima survivor of equal age, brought her Alfred Nobel medal to show and hold with Dorothea just a few years ago. Dorothea was forever grateful for the friendship of now retired Mississauga News editor, John Stewart who wrote articles about Dorothea’s efforts over many years.
Perhaps Dorothea`s most lasting contribution to peace and understanding is the establishment of the Peace Stone on the shores of Lake Ontario in Richards Memorial Park, a site she chose together with her dear friend, former Councillor Harold Kennedy. After advocating in front of Mississauga City Council for such a monument over a number years, a generous bequest from her fellow World Citizen and survivor of the war, Andy Kapos, finally allowed her dream to come to fruition. In 2009, Dorothea and Mayor Hazel McCallion unveiled the two ton monument bearing the World Citizen symbol and Gandhi’s simple message “Planet Earth is our Home. Humanity is our Family”. On that day and over the next ten years, celebrations of the International Day of Peace on September 21st took place under Dorothea’s guidance, and rose of sharon bushes from Dorothea`s garden now flourish there as well as a majestic white pine. We hope to plant another there in Dorothea’s honour in the Spring.
On the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the Peace Stone, Mayor Bonnie Crombie and Dorothea raised the Earth flag at this place of reflection and contemplation. How wonderful it would be if Dorothea`s dream could come true in future years and schools in Mississauga would begin to have Peace Day celebrations at the stone.
Over all these years, Dorothea was never paid for her time or her advocacy. She took tenants into her home to help pay the bills. She travelled on overnight buses and cheap flights and stayed in hostels when she went to conferences around the world. She sat at her kitchen desk, sometimes late into the night, and typed letters on her manual typewriter. Her office and boardroom were her dining room table. It is wonderful that her many papers will be preserved at the Peel Archives.
In June 2007, on making yet another deputation to Mississauga City Council to get approval for the Peace Stone, Dorothea said:
I realize that Peace may seem intangible or even impossible at times but that is why it is so very important that it is celebrated and encouraged at every level of civilization. Having come to Canada from a country of war, I cherish Peace. As a mother and grandmother, I pray for peace. And as a World Citizen, I work for Peace. Please join me in doing what you can to make Peace more tangible, more visible and more possible.
A celebration of Dorothea’s extraordinary life will be held on Sunday, December 3rd at 1:00 at Applewood United Church in Mississauga (www.applewoodunited.ca). The family asks that you wear your brightest colours and, if you have one, your favorite hat. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Canadian Voice of Women for Peace (www.vowpeace.org) or The Toronto Wildlife Centre (www.torontowildlifecentre.com) in Dorothea’s memory are deeply appreciated. Please note that parking at the church is limited, however, parking is permitted in the shopping plaza just a little further south on Stanfield Road. We hope that live-streaming of the service will be possible and will update this post with a link when we have one.
As she wrote at the end of all her letters and said at the end of every speech, “May the positive creative force of our endless universe guide and protect us all.”
Rest in Peace, Omi. You have earned it. Your example and compassionate love will be with us forever and our grateful love for you will never diminish. We will miss you. Your incredible spirit lives on!
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2023

Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home

Décès pour la Ville:Oakville, Province: Ontario

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nécrologie Dorothea Sheasby 2023

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