Dorothy Rasinski Gregory

I am a retired RN. I worked at West Anaheim Medical Center for 35 years and in the later years was the Education member of our Ethics Cte. I was tasked with finding a Cte. consultant and was fortunate to discover Dorothy. She was the ultimate expert on all things ethical and legal in medicine. She educated our Cte. And assisted us in dealing with many, many ethical issues dealing with end of life concerning patient, family, physicians & other caregivers. Bottom line, Dorothy’s expertise was...

I met Dr. Rasinski in February 1965 as a 13 year old boy diagnosed with diabetes. She was the physician who took care of me for about 5 years. We reconnected when she and Jim were living in LaJolla and met for dinner when they had moved back to Long Beach. We talked by phone a couple of times a year. She was a kind hearted, amazingly professional Endocrinologist and became a friend again in the last ten years. When I tried to call her today and found her number to be out of service and then...

Unfortunately, I just found out about Dorothy's passing now, the beginning of October. I knew her from my years and participation in the American College of Legal Medicine, an international, august body that brought together those typically holding both the medical and juris doctor degrees (I was not, only a JD, though the first non dual degreed individual to lead the organization in its history). But this fact is unimportant, except to lay the foundation about what I am going to say. ...

Dorothy and her husband Jim were dear friends of ours; both thoughtful and wonderfully supportive thru the good and also challenging times. Dorothy was a professionally accomplished woman when few women were in the Legal and Medical professions. She set a high bar. Jim and my husband Hal Halstead were fellow crew members on a B-17 during WW2 and became POWs of the Germans when their plane was shot down. Thus began a life long friendship with the Gregorys.

A Dear Friend, Client, advisor, and always an avid support. She always had a smile for you
never complained, had great advice with a bit of humor attached. I will miss her and her strong quiet spirit.... to say the least she had a life well lived and hugely productive to society!

I admired her very much. I became a friend to her by her attending daily mass at Our Lady of Refuge Church. She always had a smile and spoke everyday. She drove herself to mass and took her walker out and would go into church every morning. Her smile and greeting made you feel so good.

Wishing you peace, comfort, courage, and lots of love at this time of sorrow. My heart goes out to you at this difficult time.

Dorothy was always so friendly and upbeat each time we would see her in the hallway of building 4 at Bixby Riviera. She loved to share her scones with us and we loved sharing our holiday baking with her and taking her to Mass with us at OLR when she wasn't up to driving. My Mother was a friend of the Gregory's long before we knew them and felt a closeness to both of them also. She often told us about the time she went to the horseraces with them when they owned a race horse. We would most...