Obituary of Dorothy Marlene Bacon

December 7, 1939 - Kincaid, Saskatchewan
September 10, 2021 - Calgary, Alberta

Dorothy Bacon, beloved wife of the late Terry Bacon, passed away on Friday, September 10, 2021 at the age of 81 years.

Everyone who met Dorothy fell in love with her. The sparkle in those big brown eyes drew you in. Her ever present smile was a gift you didn’t know you needed. Her amenable personality put you at ease and her beautiful soul made you feel peaceful and blessed. Dorothy’s quiet nature and soft-spoken words stayed with you, while her playfulness hid the immense strength her tiny body held. Her selflessness made working with her a delight and no matter what she was going through, she always made you feel loved.

One of my most striking memories about Mom is not even an actual event from life. I sat down at the end of what seemed a very long day, released a long breath and thought about how tired I felt. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened that day, just another day with my two kids. As I sat there drained by the day, I couldn’t help but wonder and marvel at how in the world Mom had done it. For stretches of time with Dad out working in the oil field to support the family, Mom was IT! Running the household - check, groceries - check, cleaning, cooking, keeping four growing kids under control - check, and so much more. Maybe 110 pounds soaking wet and all of 5’ tall, she raised four kids by herself and here I was tired out by two kids and with a wife helping me to boot. In my mind, amazing... how had she done it?!

She might have been quiet and petite but you never wanted to underestimate her. A lot of great adjectives described Mom: strong, caring, understanding, supportive, and loving to name a few. In my entire life I can’t remember one time where Mom ever raised her voice. While raising her family, she had a calm, quiet way of laying down the law so you knew what the boundaries were and you didn’t push them.

As if raising four kids wasn’t enough, when we were all in school, she went back to work, even learning to drive so she could get there! She sat on a pillow to see over the dash in her tiny, little car. Looking back, I have no idea how she managed to drive Dad's huge company car down to the States for the summer vacation camping trip, pulling the family camper trailer to boot. All of this with next to no driving experience, yet… it just seemed there was nothing she couldn’t do.

Twenty four years later she decided it was time to call it a career and she retired from the TD bank. In the next chapter of her life, she relaxed a bit to enjoy the little things in life: reading a good book, gardening and taking care of her yard, trips to Hawaii with Dad (the Big Island being her favorite), watching a couple of her favorite TV shows everyday, cleaning her house (although I could never figure out what she cleaned as the house was always immaculate) or enjoying family dinners and her grandchildren. The time spent watching her grandchildren always brought a smile to Mom’s face and she proved to be each grandchild’s biggest cheerleader.

An amazing grandmother, she never missed an opportunity to watch hockey games, lacrosse games, plays, dance recitals, or Taekwondo, always bringing Papa along with her. She was continually supportive with encouraging words, “you were great, nice game, way to go, I really enjoyed that.” And doesn’t everyone, kids and grandkids included, remember being on the receiving end of a warm, loving smile or two at some point in time?

In the minds of Jim (Rhonda), Mitch (Carrie), Sherree and Donna (Kevan), and grandchildren, Kayla, Brooklyn, Rebecca, Dawson, Nicholas and Michael there will never, ever be another loving, supportive, caring Mom/Grandmother like Dorothy.

She will live on forever in our hearts and loving memories!

Condolences, memories and photos can also be shared and viewed here. In lieu of flowers, should someone wish to honour Dorothy, donations can be made to the Alberta Cancer Foundation, www.albertacancer.ca/donate  or to a charity of their choice.

In living memory of Dorothy Bacon, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area.