Dorothy I. Doherty, 102, of Ontario, passed away Jan. 30, 2017, at home with family surrounding her.

At the early ages of 6 and 8, her parents passed away in Goldendale, Wash. She moved to Shelby to live with an uncle and completed her elementary years. She boarded with a Syrian family in Portland, and graduated from Girls Polytechnic. That was about the time she decided she would never eat lamb or any other spices.

Dorothy moved to Burns, where she lived and worked with the Tiller family. She was an avid reader and joined the library, reading every nonfiction book she could get her hands on. She met Tim Doherty, a young Irish man, working with his brothers in a sheep enterprise, at a dance in Suntex, a ranching community west of Burns. Ironic because she didn’t eat lamb. They were married for more than 70 years, and from this union came three children.

Dorothy was a stay-at-home mom, although she babysat many, and was active in Holy Family Catholic Church. She continued her love for reading and read the Bible, Koran, all history, and was inspired by Golda Meir, which was her all-time favorite.

In 2000, Tim and Dorothy moved to Ontario, where Tim passed away in 2005, and Dorothy moved in with her daughter, Judy and Glenn Dwyer where she remained until her passing. At home, she was fondly called Mom, Grandma, Grams, and Big Mama. Mom was sharp as a tack and could talk about the old days as well as current events. She was a big baseball fan, taking the Yankees whenever possible and winning her dollar bet. She always had to have her “mad money” to use on games, grandkids or whatever came along that she deemed worthy. Mom was a loving, caring lady who always placed everybody else before herself. She had a strong faith and will be missed by all the lives she came in contact with.

Dorothy is survived by Terry (Karen) Doherty and Judy (Glenn) Dwyer; nine grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Tim; son, Jimmy; her parents; and three brothers.