STUIBLE, Dorothy Elizabeth – a long-time Oliver resident, passed away early Tuesday, May 26, 2015 at the Victoria General Hospital at the age of 92.

Dorothy will be lovingly remembered by her family, including her daughters Nancy Meyer (Phil) of Victoria, Beverley Raptis (Jim) of White, Georgia, and Shirley Stuible (Darwin) of Fredericton and her son Rick Stuible (Maria) of Vancouver, as well as grandchildren Nathan and Candace Raptis and Matthew and Emily Stuible. She was predeceased by her husband Lawrence and grandson David Fairweather. Only recently Dorothy’s patience was rewarded with two great-grandchildren, Benjamin and Alexandria Marie.

Surviving sisters and brothers include Ken (Colleen) Fleming, Verna (Dale) Demerchant and Jim (Pat Fleming). Fourth of 10 Fleming children, she was predeceased by her beloved father Archie and the glue that held the Fleming clan together after Archie’s early death, her mother, Eliza Jane. She was also predeceased by her siblings Bertha Hamilton, Jack Fleming, Margaret Anderson, Sammy Fleming Marion Stewart and June Cameron. Back in the day, the weekly Fleming family picnics included many of Dorothy’s 40 nieces and nephews, playing softball or other games which Dorothy loved.

Dorothy was born May 7, 1923 in Oliver but the family soon moved to start a fruit farm south of town. With big gardens, dairy cows and other livestock, as well as plenty of hard work, the Fleming family survived the Depression relatively unscathed. During harvest they all worked in the Haynes Packing House and it was while playing softball nearby, at Testalinda Creek School, that Dorothy met Lawrence Stuible. Married in a double wedding with her sister Margaret and Henry Anderson in 1942, the couple worked Lawrence’s family farm and started their own family before, as Dorothy would say, the best day of her life occurred. That day was when Lawrence started a full-time job with the Fish and Game Department, later the Department of Agriculture, and the family moved into Oliver.

Although she still worked full and part-time, primarily as a book-keeper and later as a librarian, the move into town gave Dorothy more time for her passions – a book a day, bowling, golfing and current events. Never interested in party politics, Dorothy really became interested in current affairs after a summer of watching the Watergate hearings in 1973. She loved to challenge pomposity, and that famous “Fleming” sense of humour could sometimes sting. Even after she became infirm, Dorothy continued to split her time between all-day news and sports broadcasts and her reading and crossword puzzles. She wore out one of the first iPads released and was asking for her new iPad, hoping to send a birthday message to grandson Matthew, even as she was in hospital for the last time. Dorothy was not afraid to keep up with the times to maintain contact with her loved ones!

Within a few years of Lawrence’s death in 1988, Dorothy moved to Penticton and then, as her health deteriorated, to Victoria where Nancy could watch over her. In the interim, Dorothy also indulged in her love of travel, with trips to see her daughters in the Maritimes and Georgia, as well as travels further afield to San Francisco, Alaska, Hawaii and Australia. In recent years she greatly missed her best travelling companions, her sisters Margaret and June and sister-in-law Betty.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.