October 7, 2019

It is with sadness we announce the passing of Dorothy Ellen Jane McLaughlin in her 104th year.

Mom spent her final years as a resident of the Hamlets, Kamloops where she received loving and compassionate care in her final days.

Mom was predeceased by her husband Archie, her four siblings (brothers Jim, Sid, Allen and sister Anne) and her granddaughter Tracey. She is survived by her daughter, Irene (Orval) Trueman, and sons Allen (Gloria) and Don (Alice), five grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, one great, great granddaughter and numerous nieces and nephews.

Born on 20 Feb 1916 in Bunclody, Manitoba to William and Jeannie Elliott at the height of World War 1 she participated in or was witness to much that shaped this country in the past century. An adolescent during of the Great Depression mom carried the life lessons of frugality, neighbourly cooperation and caring for the less fortunate throughout her life.

In 1938 she married the love of her life Archie and the young couple moved to BC to start their new life together. As a young mother she kept the home fires burning through the Second World War, following which the couple resumed their life together while developing a trucking business in Chilliwack.

In 1950 the family left the comforts of Chilliwack and the lower mainland to move to the then frontier village of Clinton in the Cariboo where she and Archie owned and operated a taxi company servicing the ranches and sawmills as far afield as the Gang Ranch and Williams Lake. Mom lived what would become known as Women’s Liberation decades later operating her own cab and providing a vital service to the residents of the south Cariboo in a time when few owned vehicles and road conditions were atrocious. The cabs were used for everything from make-shift ambulances to grocery delivery vehicles and a maternity express delivering prospective mothers to the Ashcroft hospital.

A resident of Clinton for 50 years mom took an active role in the community through such organizations as the OORP, the Royal Canadian Legion and the Clinton and District Agricultural Association. A strong believer in the value of the press in binding a community together, Mom was a reporter for the Clinton -Cache Creek Pioneer, the Ashcroft Journal and the 100 Mile Free Press for several decades.

Mom was rewarded for her volunteer work, being selected as Citizen of the Year for Clinton.

In 1999 mom moved to Ashcroft and then when her health failed in 2015 to Kamloops.

At our mother’s request there will be no service. The family will have a private gathering at a later date.

In lieu of flowers it is requested that donations be made to the Archie and Dorothy McLaughlin Memorial Fund at the B.C. Interior Community Foundation, Kamloops (250 434-6995, info@bcicf.ca). The fund supports public art and history projects in the Clinton area.

Condolences may be expressed at www.myalternatives.ca

• Date : 2019-10-10
• Location : Kamloops, B.C.