Doris J. DYKE

DORIS J. DYKE With sadness we announce the passing of Dr. Doris J. Dyke on October 8, 2021. An intellectual, wife, mother, teacher, mentor, leader, and friend, she lived 91 years to the fullest. Born Doris Jean Scott on a farm in Southern Ontario, she began teaching in a one room schoolhouse at the age of 16. Over the next 15 years she moved to Toronto, married Ossie Dyke, and started a family while continuing to teach full-time and study part-time, earning a B.A., B. Ed., then M.A. Widowed suddenly at 29, she applied to Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. The next year she and 4-year-old Cathy moved to New York where she earned a M.Th. and D.Ed. The University of Saskatchewan provided her first university appointment. In the 1970s, with her expanded family of three girls, she moved to the University of Louisville, and then Dalhousie University, where she headed the Department of Education. In her last university appointment, Doris returned to theology. She was the first woman appointed to the faculty of Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto and taught there until her retirement in 1995. Bringing a love of the arts and a feminist analysis to her work, she was instrumental in having the sculpture 'Crucified Woman' installed in the courtyard behind the college - and wrote a book about it. Not the retiring type, Doris added a Certificate in Gerontology to her resume and became a chaplain for a number of years at Greenwood Court in Stratford where she moved with her then husband, the late Rev. Donald Milne. Family and friends were important in her life. She loved to travel, have parties, eat well, listen to music, and frequent all manner of arts and cultural events. She is survived by husband Karl Jaffary who she married in 2011. This marriage brought her back to Toronto from Vancouver where she lived for the previous 10 years near daughter Catherine Evans, son-in-law Paul M. Evans, grandsons William and Paul R. Evans, and granddaughter-in-law Megan Smyth. Daughter Brenda Wise lives in Calgary and daughter Tanya Dyke in Hamilton. Friends at Pacific Spirit United Church in Vancouver, and Bloor Street United Church in Toronto, have been holding Doris in their prayers as she suffered through a difficult end of life clouded by dementia and arthritis. Staff at Christie Gardens showed her great compassion and caring especially through the many months of COVID-19 isolation. An online memorial service will be held in the coming weeks. For details about the service and/or to contribute to a scholarship fund in her name, please contact: dorisdykecelebrationoflife@gmail.com.