Dorothy Dobbin.Courtesy of family
Dorothy Dobbin: Mother. Irish. Canadian. Homemaker. Born Oct. 17, 1926, in Belfast, Northern Ireland; died Aug. 11, 2023, in Toronto, of complications from COVID-19; aged 96.
Death, like much in life, requires paperwork. One form asked for “occupation.” But what was the occupation of a 96 year old who worked out of the home only when circumstances permitted? Dorothy would have written “homemaker,” so it was fitting to use the term one last time.
Dorothy McLean was part of a large Irish family. While it was a happy childhood, it was not an easy one. Dorothy was born in Belfast only five years after the partition of the island. Six of her brothers and sisters survived childhood and together they faced the hardships of the Depression. The Second World War brought prosperity to Belfast through industry linked to the British war effort, but it also brought heavy German bombings. Dorothy’s terrace home was steps away from the ropeworks where her father worked and the bombs rained down upon them. The war didn’t just bring jobs to Belfast, it brought soldiers. Much to the dismay of their parents, two of Dorothy’s older sisters (Annie and Georgina) enjoyed the excitement and glamour offered by the Canadian soldiers.
Dorothy left school at 14, not because she wanted to – she was clever – but to support her family. When the war ended, the jobs tied to it disappeared as well. Lack of employment became a real problem just as Dorothy was starting her own family. She had met Sammy Dobbin, who may not have been an obvious choice: Dorothy was shy, churchgoing, teetotalling and rule-abiding where Sam was more robustly Irish – Guinness-drinking, pub-singing, dart-playing and rabble-rousing. Dorothy and Sam remained together all their lives, until Sam’s sudden death in 2001.
By the time Dorothy and Sam had their first child, David, the job situation was so dire that Dorothy decided to leave the country. Moving to Canada was the last thing Sam wanted to do. But he finally agreed and in 1955 he, Dorothy and 18-month-old David boarded a ship to Montreal, despite never having been farther afield than Dublin. Their final destination was Toronto: Annie and Georgina were there as war brides.
At the start, things weren’t better in Canada. Sam wanted to return to family and friends back home. For Dorothy, Canada was now home. She decided they needed a house of their own and went to see a bank manager. Sam waited outside with the baby to avoid the embarrassment of the rejection he was sure would come. The manager was impressed by Dorothy’s quiet determination and her willingness to take charge. Dorothy had concluded that Sam’s boisterous character did not lend itself to prudent financial management (his budgie-breeding phase was probably the last straw) so she took control of the family finances, an arrangement that lasted throughout their marriage. To make good on the mortgage, they took on boarders in their little east-end house; not easy for a shy person with three little boys underfoot (Terry and Glenn, born in Canada, rounded out the family).
Dorothy’s determination could border on stubbornness; once her mind was made up, there was no changing it. And while Sam had a fiery temper (quick to ignite but easy to extinguish), Dorothy was slow to anger but slower still to forget a grievance.
Eventually, the roots Dorothy put down took hold: Sam got a steady job and became active in the union. He never saw his parents again after leaving Ireland. Maybe in unspoken recognition of his sacrifices, Dorothy always managed a polite, if strained, smile through his inevitable rendition of Danny Boy at family weddings.
Dorothy eventually had to move out of her little house in 2016 – her falls were becoming more frequent – but the home she made for her family in Canada remains. That home has provided lives and opportunities for her family that were unimaginable when she left Belfast. She was the homemaker; she was a life changer.
Terence Dobbin is Dorothy Dobbin’s son.
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