Dorothy Birnie

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dorothy Birnie (nee Booth), 95, in the early hours of August 30th, at her home in Gravenhurst with her daughter and husband at her side.

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1926, mum met and married dad, John T. Birnie, in 1951 before immigrating to Toronto, Canada in 1952.  Mum loved Canada, but she never forgot her beloved Scotland and the family she left there.  Mum adored her mother and spoke about her all the time, in fact, so much that I felt I knew my grandmother although I had never met her as she passed away at the young age of 48.  From 9 years old my mother looked after her mother who became bed ridden, her father, her wee sister Barbara and her older brother’s Albert and John.

Mum loved our cottage ‘Brigadoon’ at Kahshe Lake – it was a very old cottage, where one didn’t have to worry about children running through soaking wet with sand on their feet.  It really was our home.  So many wonderful, cherished memories there…  Just a few days before she passed, mum told me she loved to lay in the old antique bed in her room and listen to the rain on the roof… A small thing but cherished by her.  Mum was an avid reader and would lay in the bed from late at night to the wee hours of the morning reading her Bible or Book of Common Prayer – or one of the many books she had of religions and history around the world.  She was very smart and well read and we were and always will be extremely proud of her.

And mum had a special way about her.  She always found the good in everyone and touched the lives of all who knew her.  She loved people, she loved all creatures and our many, many pets, and in particular our family dog Sandy and my dog Corky with whom she had a special bond.  Most of all though she loved our God, and I am certain she is with Him now.  And with her family and friends that have gone before her that she missed dearly over the years.  She was a good person, a giver, and was always there for anyone who needed help.  Anyone.  And indeed, she helped many people in her lifetime.

Mum was predeceased by her mother Barbara Booth (nee Cunningham Muir) and her father Albert Booth, her (wee) sister Barbara Farrell (nee Booth), her two big brothers Albert E. Booth and John Booth, her beloved aunty Ret, her best pal in Edinburgh Margaret Kemp (nee Barker), her cousin Ada Brown and husband George Brown and her good friends in Canada Betty Tierney and Bess Adshead.

Beloved wife of John T. Birnie, children John F. Birnie and Jan Birnie, grandmother of Robert (Bethany) Birnie, James (Amanda) Birnie, and Daniel (Chelsea) Birnie, and great grandmother to Cora, Jillian, Audrey, and Julian.  Wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, godmother, aunty, cousin, and friend, she will be greatly missed by everyone.

“She was our North, our South, our East, our West…”

The family kindly asks that in lieu of flowers and in memory of Dorothy, donations to Peta would be greatly appreciated.

The family kindly requests please do not send flowers.