Funeral Service: 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 4, 2017 Crossroads Bible Church Spalding, Saskatchewan Dora was born on April 10, 1923 to Caleb and Margaret Knutson. Their family lived in the Lac Vert District, where her parents homesteaded for many years. Growing up on the farm, they had a busy life but also a social life, with many of the local families getting together for house parties, quilting bees and picnics. She was the second of three children. Her brother Vincent joined the air force in World War II and was killed. His death had a lasting impact on Dora, her sister Elsie and their parents. Dora completed her teacher training at Normal School in Regina. Dora’s teaching career led her to a job at Old Spalding where she met Selmer, a handsome young single father of three of her students, David, Shirley and Marilyn. Dora and Selmer were married on August 6, 1949. Born to this union were Nola and Donna. Dora continued her teaching career in Lake Edward and Prince Albert school districts. Later years led her to work for twenty five years as a librarian for the Spalding Library. She loved visiting with the community and particularly loved sharing her love of books with young people. Dora was very active in Spalding. She and Selmer enjoyed curling, bowling and playing cards with friends. She was involved for years with the museum, housing authority, Willing Workers, 4H instruction, Senior’s Association and The Living Fossils. Dora liked quilting, gardening, bird watching and participating in frog and owl counts with her friends. She and Velma Spizawka would often head out on the canoe to watch the pelicans on Lake Charron. Family was very important to Dora and Selmer. Sunday afternoons at the farm were busy with kids and grandkids—meals, riding the mower, games, cards, playing horseshoes, picking raspberries and playing in the yard. As the grandchildren got older, she loved hearing about their travel stories, interests, accomplishments and work projects. Dora enjoyed the visits her family made to the farm, and would have molasses cookies, homemade bread and crabapple sauce waiting. Dora was a resourceful, determined and creative person. Even into her 80’s, she could be found independently drywalling her house, painting the garage on a rickety old ladder balanced on a board between two oil drums, cutting down swaths of poplar trees, and other projects you wouldn’t imagine possible (or safe) for an 80 year old woman. It was important to her to maintain her independence by living at the farm for as long as possible. She cross country skied until her late 70’s, and bowled with a team of friends until her late 80’s. Dora also went for daily walks until her health no longer permitted. Likely because she was so active, she was able to live on her own until her nineties. Her health began to deteriorate due to dementia when she was 91 and she moved into the senior’s apartments in Naicam. She then moved into a nursing home when she was no longer able to manage without support. Dora would want you to remember her as someone who loved being active, someone who loved nature, someone who was creative, and someone who was capable of doing just about anything on her own. Many of these qualities live on in her family, as she passed on her love of books, music, gardening, nature, sewing, quilting and self-sufficiency to her children and her grandchildren. She had many good years of life.