Obituary of Doris Elizabeth Greer

Doris (Dodie) Elizabeth Greer Died as she lived, with grace, dignity and beauty on Canada Day at the age of 95. We will miss our mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, cousin, and friend. Dodie was predeceased by her loving husband of 69 years, John Maxwell Greer, in August 2011. Born in 1918 in Dartmouth to Elsie (nee Besszong) and Fred Johnston, she was the last surviving member of her birth family. Dodie is survived by her loving children: Anne (Jim White), John (Vanessa Paschakarnis), Peggy, Peter (Alison Strachan), Mary (Richard Zalega), eighteen grandchildren, seventeen great-grandchildren and goddaughter. She also leaves nieces Sally Grant (Clifford) and Elsie Greer, nephews Al Greer (Eleanor) and Keith Burgess (Isabelle), and dear cousin Eleanor Slack with whom she has in recent years shared cherished memories of their girlhood. We also wish to acknowledge a few special people who knew and loved Dodie and who remain close to the family including Shirlene, Kit and Jim, Susan, Marlene and Tuula, and her dear friend Renee. We wish to extend our deepest gratitude to all those in the medical and care giving professions who worked with us through her final days, especially Drs. Lennox and Abriel and the VON. Dodie spent most of her adult life in Truro where she and John operated a successful family-owned drugstore, Archibald Greer Pharmacy. She was very proud to be the first person in Truro to introduce and stock a full line of vitamins and health food products in the early 1970s and she became a tireless and life-long promoter of alternative wellness. Another proud part of her life in Truro was teaching Sunday school at the First United Church where she provided a positive influence to many children. But family was the most important thing to Dodie and she spent much time nurturing family relationships. In recent years, she started a multi-generational family women's weekend each summer. This opportunity for her daughters and grand daughters and their young children to relax and share with each other has created enduring memories. Dodie enjoyed life thoroughly through her many years with Johnnie, boating, traveling, dancing, curling, and bowling. The last few years of her life were spent happily in the company of friends at Drumlin Hills in Bridgewater. Wherever she was, her warmth and sparkle attracted friendships and her playful competitive spirit in board and card games was keenly present even a week before her passing. Among the many attributes valued by her family, we celebrate the ways in which she fostered our imaginations, her delight in adventure, and her insistence on “keeping up with the new” which continued to both amaze and amuse us. She loved her laptop allowing her to Skype more distant relatives and friends and insisted on a Smartphone just before her 95th birthday so she could have ready access to her music and pictures. Dodie died surrounded by her loving family on the holiday she loved so dearly and she will be remembered with fireworks every Canada Day from hereon in. All are welcome to join us for a celebration of Dodie’s life on August 1 at 2:00 p.m. at St. John’s Anglican Church, in West Dublin, Nova Scotia, where we all spent many happy summers at the family cottage enjoying life with our dear Nannie and Papa. Reception to follow at the West Dublin Hall. Donations to the Victorian Order of Nurses, Lunenburg District (https://donate.von.ca/donatenow), South Shore Waldorf School and Kindergarten (http://www.waldorfns.org/store/), or any charity of choice. We will all miss, and already do, her constant unconditional love, her charming soul, and her abundant wisdom. Arrangement entrusted to Sweeny's Funeral Home, where on-line condolences may be made by visiting www.sweenysfuneralhome.com.