Obituary of Dorothea Gwyther

Dorothea Etta Gwyther passed away peacefully on December 18, 2014, just a few weeks short of her 97th birthday.Born to Walter Benson and Carrie Tabitha (Ross) Gillespie on January 6, 1918, in Eugene, Oregon, she grew up on the family's ranch at Gillespie Corners, the intersection of Territorial Road and Lorane Highway. She attended a one room school, Lone Cedar, located on a hill near her family home. Her great-grandfather was Jacob Gillespie, a Cumberland Presbyterian Minister, and prominent resident of Lane County, who, in 1852, brought his family from Lafayette, Missouri to what would become Lane County Oregon, homesteading the rich farmland around Gillespie Butte, (just north of Skinner's Butte in Eugene), along with son-in-law Charles Walker Young. In the 1930's, her family bought a farm along the west side of the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, at the northeast corner of Cloverdale Road and Dale Kuni Road, west of Creswell, and began raising laying hens, allowing their daughter the opportunity to attend Creswell High School, where she graduated in 1936. Dorothea worked in Creswell as a telephone switchboard operator in the late 1930's and through WWII. On June 30, 1946, Dorothea married George Ivar Gwyther, not long after his military service in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, and they had a son, David, born on July 5, 1947, followed by another son, Donald, born on March 8, 1951. In the late 1940's, they bought 2.5-acres of land on Nieblock Lane north of Creswell, and soon after built their home, where she lived until the last few months of her life. A longtime member of the Creswell Presbyterian Church, she exemplified her faith in God. Dorothea worked for many years at the Creswell Public Schools, ending her career as head of the school lunch program. Many thousands of Creswell children, teachers, and staff, probably remember the smell of the fresh baked bread and cinnamon rolls they prepared. After the death of her husband in July of 1982, she retired and spent many hours with her grandchildren and their friends, who would often stop by for milkshakes. Her other activities after retirement included learning how to paint with oils and gardening. She is survived by her eldest son, David, his daughter, Iris and great-granddaughter Clara; along with Donald and his children, Jordan and Isabelle. A memorial service will be held at the Creswell Presbyterian Church at 1:30PM on Saturday, January 17, 2015. Remembrances can be donated to the Creswell Presbyterian Church or Creswell Education Foundation.