||| FROM CATHIE TROGDON |||
Dorothy Trugdon
Dorothy W. Trogdon (Dottie), age 99, passed away peacefully at her beloved home in Doe Bay, Orcas Island, Washington on June 25. She was born February 25, 1926 in Waterville, Maine to Clara (Carter) and Carl J Weber. Carl, a Rhodes Scholar was Department Chair of the English Department at Colby College in that town. Dorothy had an older brother,
David, who currently lives in southern California and is 101 years old.
Dorothy attended Colby College after three years in high school and then transferred to Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts to complete her undergraduate degree, Magna Cum Laude in Art History in 1947.
She worked for a year at an architecture office in New Hampshire before applying to Harvard University’s iconic Graduate School of Design (GSD). As one of the two women accepted in the program she was in a class of her own, literally. Harvard is where she met her husband of 68 years,
William (Bill) Henry Trogdon, who was enrolled in the GSD Walter Gropius design studio. They met and married in 1952. After a European Harvard-sponsored Traveling Fellowship tour, Bill and Dorothy moved to Seattle which was home to Bill.
Dottie found it difficult to find work in the field of architecture as a woman in the 1950s, so she, worked at Frederick and Nelson’s interior design department organizing fabric samples. She stated years later that this menial job was an excellent stepping stone to launch her long career as a successful interior designer.
In 1954, Bill and Dottie moved to Spokane, Washington where they both made their mark as prominent designers until 1983 when they moved back to Seattle. While in Spokane they raised three sons, Benjamin, Peter and William Jr. A 4th son, Teddy, lived just 5 months.
Even with a full-time career in interior design, Dottie found time to pursue other interests. She loved European culture, particularly French, and became a gourmet chef following Julia Child’s books and TV programs. She also was an avid beekeeper, harvesting honey in Spokane. She enjoyed snow skiing and made lunches for the boys to take to school
everyday. She also hosted social scripted play readings and supported artist groups. She had a great love of cats and a keen interest in Carl Jung teachings.
Dottie’s career in Spokane included a position as head designer at the acclaimed Joel’s design and home furnishings store from 1956 to 1976. In 1976 Dottie joined Inscape, as co-director for 7 years. She also worked as interior designer on projects at the firms her husband was affiliated with.
For 10 years Dottie was on the board of FIDER, The Foundation for Interior Design Research and Education, which is the accrediting agency for interior design programs, established in 1970. This is where Dottie really shined. She traveled all over the United States assisting with the accreditation process of interior design programs at universities combining
her great intellect, design acumen and collaborative and interpersonal skills in her work.
For some years Bill and Dottie split their time between Seattle and a retreat property on Orcas Island that they purchased in 1969. In 2011, Bill and Dorothy made Orcas Island their primary home. This place reminded Dottie of her Maine roots and as she settled in to this cozy retreat, she became content with her garden, and poetry writing from her office with the garden view.
At 80, Dottie published her first book of poetry. During the next decade she published three more beautiful poetry books. Poetry writing was the culmination of her life experience as designer, voracious reader and keen observer and appreciater of her natural surroundings. It became clear that her poetry touched the hearts of those who came in contact with her work. She read her poems at book club gatherings and small book stores. Several of her poems were put to music by Sam Gender from London and one piece was set to music by a renowned musician/song writer, Rachel Portman.
Dottie’s poetry was her way of listening to the world, of making sense of time, sorrow, and joy; always with eyes attuned to beauty and meaning. In one of her poems, Pathways, she envisioned her final journey not with fear, but with peace:
“One day I will walk softly
into the forest of the fallen,
a shadow cast across the path.
The leaf-bare alders will attend
my coming, will murmur
as I pass beneath their branches.
I will slip in among
the horses
in the upper field,
stroke their forelocks,
Where the road turns
I will linger to look back
before I cross the foot bridge.
Sun-gold greens of spring, deep
summer shadows, blackened
autumn leaves shall be my raiment.
And when snow feathers fall
from the darkening skies, I will
be among them in the light.”
Pathways: The Presence of Absence
by Dorothy Trogdon
Dottie is survived by her brother, David, three sons, Benjamin (Denise), Peter (Cathie), Will (Stacey), her four grandchildren, William, Benjamin C (Virginia), Shea (Rorie) and McKenna, and three great grandchildren, Finley, Hayes and Carter.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Orcas Center on Orcas Island ( orcascenter.org )
Date for memorial gathering has not been set as of yet.
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Dottie was a majestic woman — beautiful and poised in appearance, wise and deep in thoughts and feelings. We came together in grief over the death of a mutual friend and found solace in one another. I will always treasure the time we spent together culminating in later years by my reading her own poetry to her when her eyesight precluded reading. Her poetry touches me in many ways and I delight in being led in one direction only to be surprised at the detour to the conclusion. Her poetry books are always close to my desk. She was an accomplished woman and lady through and through and will be missed.