On July 28, I posted an obituary for my Aunt Lynn, Myrtle Dobson (here). I said that apparently an obituary wasn’t provided at the time of her passing (December 28, 1971), but I was wrong. I found it. To provide correct information, I’m posting the original obituary here.
MYRTLE I. DOBSON, TROY NATIVE, DIES AT OROFINO HOME
OROFINO – Miss Myrtle I. Dobson, 77, died at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday at the Orofino Convalescent Center where she had been a patient the last year and a half. She had been in ill health for some time.
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| Myrtle Dobson, July 1951 |
She was born March 28, 1894, at Troy, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Julian Dobson. She moved with her parents in 1895 to Gilbert south of Orofino where her parents homesteaded. She attended schools at Gilbert, Orofino and Lewiston.
As a young woman she began a career as a photographic technician, working at Spokane, Seattle, Portland and Eugene, Ore. During World War II she worked at Swan Island, Wash., shipping yard as a clerk.
In 1953, she returned to Gilbert to care for her mother who died in 1957. She made her home with her brother at Idaho Falls and later lived in Nezperce until she entered the nursing home.
She was a member of the Presbyterian Church and the Maccabees.
Survivors include two brothers, Vance Dobson and Earle Dobson, both of Orofino; two sisters, Mrs. Ethel Robinson, Nezperce, and Mrs. Henry (Shirley) Shockley, Seattle.
This obituary provides information that I didn’t remember: her professional title was “photographic technician,” and she had worked in cities other than Portland; she worked at Swan Island during WWII; and she didn't stay at the farm with Grandma Ina until 1953. I’m happy to add this info to my files.
However, I would never have called her a “Troy native.” She was born on a farm near Troy where her father was working. They had come there in 1891 to await the opening of the Nezperce Reservation to homesteaders. I would have related her to Gilbert, or even Orofino.
Not so long ago (25 years?), most obituaries were written by newspaper
staff on info provided by the family to the mortuary. The format was much the same -- factual
and cold -- but included important info of record. It was a free public service, but unless
you were well-known in the community, your obituary might not amount to much. Obituaries
today are written in a warmer style by family or those acquainted with the
deceased, and we have to pay to have them published. KW
4 comments:
Kind of uncanny how you used some of the same language, e.g. "ill health". Did you research the style of obituaries of the time in order to write in the same style?
No, I didn't have to research. I remember the style and the language. It's only been in the last 20 years or so that this style has relaxed.
I'm curious about the Maccabbees. I'm glad you were able to find the original obituary but I have to say I liked yours better.
I, too, am curious about the Maccabees. I think this Wikipedia article comes closest to describing the organization in question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_Maccabees. I feel that it isn't worth my time to read through all the info because it still wouldn't tell me about her association with the organization and what it meant to her. Apparently the organization provided some wort of insurance benefit which didn't amount to much in the end. The article says that in the 1990s, they still had 80,000 members.
There's something else -- the Rosicrucian Fellowship. If she wasn't a follower, I think she might have read some of that literature.
In the 1990s, I gathered up old religious books at the farm and took them to a bookseller in Clarkston. I half expected her not to accept them, but she gave me $25 and asked me if I had more. I'm quite sure they were Myrtle's books.
It's true -- we like the warmer obituary style. I think it's great, but I think we should be careful to provide the info that people might need in the future -- dates, correct names, etc. I'm afraid this is going to be lacking for the next generation of genealogists. But then, life has changed so much. It will become DNA based.
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