Victoria K. Dolben

1967 - 2024

Victoria Kirmayer Dolben, a resident of Rockport, Massachusetts, and formerly of Reading, Massachusetts, passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2024 at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She was 56 years of age.

Tory was born in Salem, Massachusetts on November 17, 1967. She is the daughter of the late Catherine Kirmayer Dolben and Donald C. Dolben, and his wife Martha, of Concord, Massachusetts.

She attended Reading Memorial High School and Northfield Mount Hermon School; studied occupational therapy as an undergraduate at Tufts University; earned a BA with Honors in Public Relations and Marketing Communications at Simmons University; and a Master’s Degree in Health Communication from Emerson College.

Tory described herself as a serial entrepreneur. She was a successful massage therapist, and was the founder of Bequia Sweet Sweets during her years in Bequia, St. Vincent, and of Honu’s Hearth, a raw dehydrated foods business in Rockport, Massachusetts.

She will be remembered sweetly and with longing by those lucky enough to be tasters in her experiments: crackers, kale chips, chocolate, keto cookies, compotes, Dundee cake, jams, soups, hot sauce, epic tomato sauce…

Her interests were varied. She competed in shotput and discus, and enjoyed cycling and adventure - Tory rode the Bicentennial TransAmerica Trail in 1986 from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia, and walked the Camino de Santiago in 2001.Tory took pleasure in basket weaving and looming. She was an award winner at the Topsfield Fair for canning. She was keenly interested in Biodynamics, a holistic approach to gardening, food and nutrition. She sounded and sang with crystal singing bowls. Tory had an extraordinary voice.

Tory will also be remembered for her turtle sensibility. That it’s good to carry one’s home with one. Everywhere. That Turtle Speed…is speedy. And Turtle Life Wisdom: Turtles drop their eggs and go. They just go. At Turtle Speed.

Tory was a joyful spirit. She brought love and light everywhere she went. She was thoughtful, generous, supportive, and focused on the positives in life. She subscribed to the law of abundance, and she shared that abundance unreservedly - with family, friends and strangers.

She is survived by her siblings: Andrew K. Dolben and his wife Mary, of Northampton, New Hampshire; Deane H. Dolben and his wife Lacey, of North Andover, Massachusetts; Catherine J. Dolben of Ventura, California; and Zak Pritchard of Santa Monica, California. She is also survived by eight nieces and nephews, as well an honorary niece and nephew in her extended family.

She was dearly loved and is dearly missed.

All services are private.