Citation
Dorothy was born in Essendon and educated at MLC. She has two children. Dorothy’s parents were friends of Royce and Jean Abbey. She recalls that Royce stood out in her Essendon childhood years as “a Rotarian”; she knew it was something special and he was treated very respectfully but she didn’t quite know what being “a Rotarian” meant and it would have been considered rude to ask. It has taken her 70 years to understand what it is to be “a Rotarian”.
Dorothy’s professional life has included creating a restaurant in Gisborne, operating four menswear retail stores, menswear tailoring, and furniture and homewares retailing. This background set her up for a lifetime of service and fellowship. In 2000, and without an undergraduate degree, Dorothy undertook a Post-Graduate Social Science (Human Service – Counselling) degree at Swinburne University, then a degree in Bereavement Counselling. In 2002 she entered private practice in grief counselling and trauma, and she was both a registered Mediator to industry and community health and a Career Transition Counsellor.
Since 2005, Dorothy lectured at Swinburne in 3 Masters programs till 2016, and wrote all course material on Trauma, Loss and Grief, and Palliative Psychology and Ageing. She has also presented workshops on depression, suicide, stress and self-care to industry and community health organisations.
Aside from her Rotary commitments, Dorothy’s service to the community includes being an honorary counsellor to Very Special Kids, Autism Victoria and Dying with Dignity; working with White Dove/Bridge of Hope; providing mentorship for new Australians from India and lecturing at University of the Third Age. She also spends special times with her granddaughter teaching her to cook, and is writing a book.
Dorothy was inducted into membership of the Rotary Club of Melbourne in 2016 and became very active very quickly. Quite fittingly, she was the recipient of the Club’s Royce Abbey Award for 2018. Dorothy has been, or is presently actively involved, with:
o The Bulletin as editor
o The drafting of a new Code of Conduct for RCM
o The Club’s website and social media
o The Rotary Safe Families program as facilitator
o The Victorian Police and Ambulance Victoria programs as a mentor
o The Malvern Group
o Women in Rotary
o Vocational Service, R100 and IT/Communications Committees and the Family Violence Group
o The current RCM Board as Director for Fellowship and Fundraising.
No more need be said. Dorothy is an exemplary Rotarian, upholding our motto of Service above Self. We of Melbourne are pleased to honour her as a Paul Harris Fellow.
