Obituary of Dorothy Anne Thomas

It is with great sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Dorothy Anne Thomas, surrounded by her loving family, on Feb. 24, 2024 at Amica Swan Lake, Markham, Ontario.  

Dorothy was born on Dec 30,1940 in Stockport, England to Lillah and Harry Crowder. In 1962 she married Warren Thomas, who preceded her in death in 2004, and they immigrated to Canada with their young family in 1967. She jokingly referred to herself as Canada’s Centennial gift. Throughout her life she touched the hearts of all those around her with her cheerfulness, unwavering optimism, kindness, courage, resilience and positive energy. She was athletic and a very skilled driver as she worked as a popular school bus driver for the YRDSB for 31 years and then enjoyed her few annual solo drives to Florida in her retirement.  She was very creative and enjoyed sewing, knitting, crafting and dressmaking. She was an adoring grandmother and a very proud mother considering her children as her life’s greatest accomplishment. Her other joys in life included Friday night dinners with her bff Jenny, line dancing with Norma and vacationing and spending time with her sisters. She was an avid hockey fan and especially loved watching her sons and grandsons play the game; she was their greatest cheerleader.  

She will be dearly missed by her children Stephen (Lori), Robin (Katherine), Noel (Laura), her cherished  grandchildren Christian, Lauren Henrique (Adam), Derek (Cammie Quesnel), Alexander (Kristen Cameron ), Braydon, Courtney McKay and her sweet great grandchildren Theodore, Sloane and Blake. She is survived by her sisters Valerie Stewart (Doug) and Gillian Bruffell (Phillip) and  her brother in law David Thomas  (Jacqueline ); she was pre deceased by her dear sister Lynn Allen (John) in 2021. She will also be missed by her many nieces, nephews, extended family members and dear friends in the UK and Canada.

A special heartfelt thank you to Katherine Thomas for her devotion and extraordinary care of Dorothy during the last few months. Our sincere gratitude to Dr. Lim-Fat and Dr. Sahgal at Sunnybrook Hospital and Dr. Patterson and the entire staff at Amica Swan Lake for their outstanding care, guidance and compassion.

Celebration of Life and a private burial will take place at a later time. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the Gord  Downie Fund  for Brain Cancer Research at Sunnybrook Hospital: donate.sunnybrook.ca/gord