Dorothy Lillian Burgess

Dorothy Lillian Burgess was born January 15, 1935, the oldest of three daughters born to Ernest and Liela Burgess. They lived in the Daysville area. Their neighbors were the Bert Burgess, Jim Conacher and Ivan Sandwick Families.  There were Sunday visits to Uncle Bert and Aunt Cora’s farm where they would play ball and have homemade ice cream. Sometimes the kids would take tobacco from Bert’s can and roll smokes, Dorothy’s dad caught her and gave her a good spanking.  Growing up on the farm there were many chores to do but there was also a lot of fun. In the wintertime her dad would take the box off the sleigh and she would lie on the runners and chase the horse over the snow ridges, making the sleigh fly up over the ridges. Her mom would fancy up the house, the floor in the house was rubber roofing so she would paint it and then took half a potato, dabbed it in paint and dotted it on the floor.   Dorothy attended Daysville School. These were great times also, playing ball and attending the school picnics.
Dorothy is survived by her children: Rose Marie (Russell) Cook; Clinton Gory; Darrel (Rose Lynn) Gory, Lillian (Mervin) McGowan, Barry (Wendy) Gory. Grandchildren: Desiree Gory, Jillian (Travis) Sharko, Alysha (Jordy) Molella; Spenser (Kristen) McGowan, Curtis (Amanda) McGowan; and her great-grandchildren, Dominic Simon, Oliver and Eberlee Sharko, Aiden and Zoey McGowan, Emma and Jax McGowan. Her sister Helen (Jim) Bowbyes. Her sister-in-law Mary Koenders. Her brothers-in-law, Tom (Marie) Gory, and Joseph (Agnes) Gory, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Dorothy is predeceased by: her husband, Alex; her parents Ernest and Liela Burgess, her sister and brother-in-law Irene and Alex McCullough, her daughter-in-law Donna; her aunts, Mildred Emil and Harriet Huggins, her uncle Russell Hansen. Her mother and father-in-law, Florence and Valentine Gory.
When Dorothy was 15, she started work during the summers for the John Erickson family; $40 per month and every second weekend off. In 1950 the family moved into Mervin and she finished her schooling there. Her teacher was Mr. Jack Funk.  Dorothy devoted her life to serving Jehovah, on July 17, 1948 she was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Her mom would take her three girls by horse and buggy and go to either the Helen and Adolf Bruggen Cate’s or Bill and Nellie DeStraker’s for the meetings because there was no Kingdom Hall near them. She was very happy when the Kingdom Hall was built in Mervin a very short distance from her house on land donated by her father. Dorothy was the happiest when she was talking to people about God’s Kingdom. On July 16, 1953 Dorothy married Alex Gory from the St. Walburg area. He had come to work for her dad a couple years prior. Together they built a loving home and family of five children. In the summertime the family would make trips to Brightsand Lake for a day on the beach or load up the boat and head off to Steel Narrows or Loon Lake fishing.
For a time, mom had a milk cow and also raised New Zealand white rabbits. We would go and cut the hay in the ditches along the highway for feed. Mom always had a large garden, putting away vegetables that we enjoyed all winter long. One day Dad came home with a huge glass greenhouse, this was really great, no more putting the plastic on in the spring and taking it off in the fall. Dad and mom set up part of it and so began the many abundant tomato and cucumber crops that were shared with family and friends. In early 2016 Dorothy became a resident of the Long-Term Care Facility at the Riverside Health Complex, where she resided until her passing on December 19th, 2022.
The Memorial Service for Dorothy was held on Saturday, December 24, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. with Mr. Bryce Smith leading the service.  Leif Johnson and Shane Messal were the ushers.  Inurnment in the Mervin Cemetery took place prior to the service.
CARD OF THANKS
We wish to express our appreciation to all sharing in our loss today.  Your prayers, deeds of kindness, and attendance at the service are all greatly appreciated and will always be remembered. The Gory Family