MOTHER DORCAS was born in in Lancaster County PA at the height of the Depression Era in 1931, the first child of her parents with four more to follow. She attended local schools and worked on the family farm. As a teen she heard a woman doctor speak one evening at her church about the great need for women doctors in East Africa to assist the midwives with the more difficult births as male doctors were not permitted to be present by cultural custom. And so a dream was born. Not only did this young woman go to college but also to medical school. In the 1950’s she began her work in Tanzania at a hospital in the shadow of Mt. Kilimanjaro and region of Lake Victoria. It was here that she would become known for her no-nonsense practical solutions to problems such as putting together an artificial limb for a patient from whatever she could find in the garage. It was here that she learned from the Africans that FAMILY was the most sacred treasure an individual could have. The love she gave did not go unreturned. Years after returning to the states a woman whose life she had saved by performing heart surgery in her years in Africa came to visit her in the States when her husband was very ill and brought along her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to sing and pray for him.
MOTHER DORCAS returned to the States in the early 1970’s after the death of her own mother. It was at this time that she secured a position as a surgeon at Harrisburg Hospital and with the monies she earned continued to support the hospital she had helped to manage in East Africa. Around Christmastime of 1973 she received a letter from a former college roommate who was now living with her husband and 4 children in Philadelphia. When they got together she found out her friend was dying of cancer. MOTHER CATHERINE asked her longtime friend Dorcas to “look out for my children” (all teenagers at the time). Her friend Catherine died in March of 1974. Dorcas had been part of the wedding party at Catherine and Ted’s wedding in 1955. In time she found herself part of a new wedding party where she was the bride this time and in charge of a four new stepchildren and a large home. She left her full-time position in Harrisburg and began a part-time position with the School District of Philadelphia as a doctor, a position she would hold for the next 10 years at which time the School District began using Nurse Practitioners to meet children’s needs. She worked her last year as a Proctor for those Practitioners.
MOTHER DORCAS then moved on to practice psychiatry from age 52 until retirement at Norristown State Hospital where she soon became known as a staunch advocate for the rights of mental patients who were being overmedicated by certain colleagues to keep them more docile and “manageable”. She nearly lost her job for daring to challenge a corrupt individual but in the end when the truth came out she was given a promotion after holding her ground and fighting for patient rights.
MOTHER DORCAS had another surprise four years into her marriage in 1978. At age 47 she found herself pregnant for the first time in her life. She decided to follow through with responsibility despite the fact that her own mother had had a child with Down’s syndrome in her 30’s, a risk she knew she was taking. As it turned out her son was born a few weeks early, just under 5 pounds, but soon was gaining weight despite objections by some medical personnel and family members who objected to an “old” woman breastfeeding her child, a practice she had strongly advocated both in the USA and in East Africa as the most healthy both physically and psychologically for both mother and child.
Between 1985 and the present she became a Grandmother to 5 grandchildren and fulfilled her promise to her husband Ted to stand by him until his death in 2004. She has continued to be actively involved in the lives of her 5 children and grandchildren assisting them with many a situation by being a trusted confidant and problem-solver whose keen compassion and listening skills are treasured by all who seek her assistance.
MOTHER DORCAS shared with me one word from the Swahili language that she learned while in EAST AFRICA that best describes her style: POLYSANA….roughly translated it means…whatever you are feeling, I feel with you …your joys and sorrows. We really have no English equivalent. Always ready to walk the talk like her Mennonite ancestors and always ready to sit with you at the highs and low times of your life, MOTHER DORCAS has shared with her actions what giving someone POLY really means.
THIS MONTH her friends and family will gather to honor this quiet woman on her 80TH BIRTHDAY whose life speaks volumes for what FAITH IN ACTION means…those who attend will be part of putting together the pieces of a huge puzzle, much like the thousand piece puzzles MOTHER DORCAS still enjoys to this day…it is a gathering sure to be full of surprises as each of us present adds a little piece of our story to what we know of this unique woman whose life has been and will continue to be an inspiration to us all.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER DORCAS !!!