In Memoriam : Margaret Dofflemyer

Margaret Cutler Dofflemyer - age: 85
(December 27, 1924 to February 06, 2010 )
Resident of Woodlake, California

Visitation Information:
She will be interred at the Exeter District Cemetery. At Margaret’s
request, no services are pending.

Obituary:
Margaret C. Dofflemyer was born in Visalia to Dorothy (Hannah) and
John F. Cutler on December 27, 1924. Great-granddaughter of John
Cutler, first elected judge in Tulare County in 1853, she attended
Redwood High School, Stephens College and graduated from the
University of California at Berkeley in 1945.

In 1946, she married Robert T. Dofflemyer of Exeter on February 14th.
Margaret was an active member of the Las Madrinas Guild and its
support of the Valley Children’s Hospital and a member of the Gamma
Phi Beta sorority. She was also among the founding families of the
Venice Hill Preparatory School in the early 1960s. She was preceded in
death by her husband Robert in 1997, and her sister Catherine C.
Kramer in 2003.

She is survived by her daughter, Virginia S. Dofflemyer of Alameda;
and sons, John C. Dofflemyer of Lemon Cove and W. Todd Dofflemyer II
of Exeter; four grandchildren, Jessica Dofflemyer of Kilauea, HI,
Amanda Bauscher of Capitola, Robert T. Dofflemyer II of Woodlake and
Katy Dofflemyer of Los Angeles and two great-granchildren, Bodhi Rouse
and Cutler Bauscher.



AS SHE SLEEPS

Ranges of foothills fall sharply from clouds
stacked against Sierra snow, pastel ridges
washed pink and lavender under light gray rain –

I want to stop and paint them from the railroad
overpass, on the highway from Visalia – park
and stop time, freeze it all while I brush

powder to paper. Commuting for weeks,
I can read the leanings of the urgent
escaping work, racing towards something

somewhere I can’t imagine as important
as these mountains – a different meaning
in the light of every day. Wrinkled one

behind the other, I identify each dark line
as it jags into the Kaweah like the folds
of bedclothes as she sleeps, going home.





Nancy Anthony Volosin - February 9, 2010Contact this person Contact this person
Dear Marg, I have been thinking about you - a lot, now immersed in the beautiful peace and freedom of your new Home.Thank-you so much for your kindness and care for the young woman new to the valley all those years ago -and the years that followed. You heard me tell you before, but I tell you again, your floating gardenias in the blue china bowl... placed in the guest room on that first visit, was one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. There are now three full, deep green gardenia bushes on each side of the entry to our home, that are budding and just waiting to bloom. They are definitely there , and always will be, because of you. What joy they bring! (your great-grandsons have also discovered them!) Thank-you, dear Marg. God bless you. Love, Nancy


DL Gates - February 23, 2010Contact this person Contact this person
Virginia, John and Todd, Our family's prayers are with you at your time of loss. Our mother Marylou (McPhaill, Gates- Fox) and your mother we great friends. Our mother shared many memories of the things they did in high school and all of the fun they had. Your mother was a big part of our moms early life in Visalia. As Nancy shared above, I also remember the gardenias floating in glass bowls and taking the gardenia's (in waxed paper neatly closed at the top with a straight pin) to our teachers. Thinking of you, Debbie, Rusty and Charlotte (Eckmeyer) Gates.