HEAVEN, Dorothy –
Dorothy Anne Bunker Heaven was an artist, a teacher, a historian and the heart of a family. She was accomplished at all of these, but she always considered her greatest achievement her family.
Born the only child of Thomas Henry Bunker and Dorothy Louis Bunker (Mellor), Dorothy, known to her friends as Dode, was raised on the shores of Lake Couchiching in Orillia, Ont. She started her artistic career early, hand painting photographs at a local studio, before the days of colour film. In 1943, she graduated from Normal School and started her first teaching job at a one-room schoolhouse in the countryside near Orillia. Three years later, she took instruction in Toronto to become an art supervisor, so that she could use art to better reach and inspire her students.
In 1951, Dode married William Hay Heaven and began an adventure that lasted 57 years until Bill’s death in 2008. Over those years, they lived in Montreal, Belleville, London and finally Georgetown. She was the loving mother of four children, Ted, Cat, Pam and Jim, and grandmother to six, JQ, Alicia, Makenzie, Marcus, Danielle and Isaac.
She filled her family’s lives with art, from endless crafts at the family cottage on Twin Sisters Lake to the art classes she taught in her basement in London. Many of Dode’s former students remember her as an early mentor.
In 1972, the Brush and Palette Club was born in London, Ont. after the painting sessions Dode held for a few interested friends grew into an art association that still flourishes today. Along with giving artists the opportunity to exchange ideas and fellowship, the group encourages visual arts in the community with an annual scholarship and art show.
After Bill retired, the pair traveled the world as members of Canadian Executive Services Overseas. While Bill shared his expertise as an electrical engineer, Dode worked in schools and cancer clinics teaching art in Bangalore, Coombatore, New Delhi and areas of China.
A passionate genealogist, Dode researched and produced books on the histories of both branches of her family, the Bunkers and Mellors, and her husband’s, the Heavens. She was an active member of the Bunker Family Association, and in the late 1990s, she took the whole family back to the Heavens’ ancestral seat on Lundy Island off the coast of England for the holiday of a lifetime.
Dode’s passion for art continued until the end. After moving to Mountainview Residence, in Georgetown, she formed friendships with fellow residents who shared her love of creativity, continued to experiment with new techniques and mounted art shows for her community.
A gentle, generous matriarch, she was a touchstone, not only for her family, but for anyone who needed a place to feel like home.
Dode died on Jan. 3, 2017 at the age of 91 and we will never stop missing her.
Funeral Arrangements entrusted to J.S. Jones & Son Funeral Home.

Nos plus sincères sympathies à la famille et aux amis de Dorothy Anne Heaven.source

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