Dorothy Corser (1927–2010)

Born Dorothy Lucille Corser in Canandaigua, Finger Lakes Region, upstate New York, eldest of Eloise and Levi Corser's three daughters. Attended Cornell University on scholarships, earned Bachelor's degree at 19. Met Edmund Livingston at Cornell; married in 1949. Couple moved to Vancouver, B.C., where she completed a Master's of Social Work. Lived throughout B.C. following Edmund's geology career, delivering five of six children in different communities. Family settled in Victoria in 1961. Served as Psychiatric Social Worker and later Director at Saanich Mental Health, covering the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands; excelled in crisis counselling and rehabilitation. After dissolution of first marriage, married Oscar Gislason (from Gimli, Manitoba) in 1970, blending families; Oscar passed in 1987. Active Unitarian Chaplain for five years, performing close to 200 marriages including same-sex couples. Appointed to Senate of University of Victoria by Lieutenant Governor (1978). Made Honorary Citizen of Victoria (1998). Founding member of: Victoria Native Friendship Centre (1970), Clauhowsick Club (1965), Together Against Poverty Society (TAPS, 1989–1999), Victoria Chapter of Council of Canadians, Victoria Status of Women, Victoria Schizophrenic Society, Universal Hot Lunch Program, Girls Alternative Program (GAP). Suffered severe stroke in November 2002; lived at Glenwarren Hospital until her death. Survived by sisters Jane Culver and Helen Foxx, and children from both marriages.