ALCOCK, Doreen Frances (nee Betts)
Doreen passed away peacefully at her residence at Elmwood Place, London, Ontario on Saturday morning February 11, 2023, in her 97th year. She was born in Saint John, N.B. to Gordon and Muriel (Clarke) Betts. They moved to Montreal where she did her schooling and where her love of sports began. In her youth, Doreen enjoyed playing basketball and baseball. She often told the story about her father taking her to see Jackie Robinson when he played for the Montreal Royals before he went to the Brooklyn Dodgers. She was very proud of being a club champion at the Alburgh Golf course near their cottage in Vermont. In her later years, Doreen never missed a Blue Jays game on TV and became a fan of curling. She loved taking long walks and believed that was the reason for her health and longevity. Doreen also enjoyed winning at euchre, bingo and Rummoli.
Doreen met the love of her life, Norton, in Montreal, and they married on September 6, 1947. When Norton passed away in 1994, they had enjoyed 47 years together. Survived by her sons Gary (Pat McGraw) and Don (Yvonne), her grandchildren Bryan McGraw-Alcock (New Zealand), Andrea McGraw-Alcock (Neil Webster, Calgary), and Tyler McGraw-Alcock (Liga Kupce, Sweden), and her New Zealand great-grandchildren Cameron, Lachlan, and Lilly, as well as many nieces and nephews, especially Bill Stroud (Anne and family, New Brunswick), Debbie Duffy Lavallee (Rejean and family, Quebec), Jim Norton (Gayle and family, California), and Dale Norton (and family, California).
She will also be remembered by many friends from Montreal, golfing days in Alburgh, Vermont, retirement winters in Dunedin, Florida, and the seniors’ group at the London Boys and Girls Club.
We thank the staff at Horizon Place and Elmwood Place for their care and assistance in her final years. As per Doreen’s wishes there will be no service and cremation has taken place. Her ashes will be interred alongside of Norton’s on Friday, February 17 at Oakland Cemetery, London.