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PostHeaderIcon DOROTHY A. IVES of AMHERST, MA, April 24, 1918 – August 19, 2014

AMHERST, Dorothy Ann (Mays) Ives, aged 96, of West Street, Amherst, died on August 19, 2014 at the Center for Extended Care at Amherst. Born in Boston April 24, 1918, daughter of the late Percy C. and Jessie E. (Kennedy) Mays, she was a graduate of Arlington High School in 1934 and Simmons College School of Library Science in 1938.  Her husband, Philip T. Ives, a research geneticist and weather recorder at Amherst College, died in 1992. 

Dorothy came to Amherst in February 1939 to be Branch Librarian at the Jones Library (North Amherst branch).  Following her marriage in June of 1940 she worked in Converse Library at Amherst College for three years.  She returned to work at the college in the mid-1950’s, first as Secretary in the Astronomy Department and then for 21 years as Secretary in the Economics Department, retiring in 1987.  She had been active in the Amherst Girl Scouts and she was a member of Grace Episcopal Church, the Thursday Club, and the Amherst Historical Society. 

One of Dorothy’s favorite sayings, learned early in life, was “You do what you have to.”  Her parents, immigrants from England and Scotland, were servants on Beacon Hill in Boston and they lost their jobs, their savings, and ultimately their lives during the Depression years.  Dorothy resolutely worked her way through Simmons, building a circle of nine friends called the Robins, and she kept these friendships all her life.  Arriving in Amherst a city girl, she adapted to farm life when she and Philip moved to South Amherst, learning to put up food, butcher chickens, and chase runaway cows.  She wrote about these times in “100 Years at the Corner” (Harvesting History: Amherst Massachusetts Farms 1700-2010), celebrating her family’s ties to the community.

Friends and family meant everything to Dorothy, and in her early 50s she traveled to Britain to reconnect with the relatives her parents had left behind decades earlier.  Many happy trips to the Orkney Islands followed, along with emails and phone calls.  After retiring from Amherst College, she kept in touch with former students and “her boys,” the members of the Economics faculty, and through the years the number of names on her birthday card list continued to grow.  She loved nothing more than having her family home to visit and keeping the wood fire burning, and she will be greatly missed.

Dorothy is survived by four children: Richard T. (Donna) of Spring Hill, FL; Elinor I. Goff (Chris, died 2007) and Carolyn I. Dingman (Joe), both of Bryn Mawr, PA; Donald F. (Sally) of Worthington, MA; five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.  She is also survived by her dear friends, the Kosakowski family of Hadley.

A memorial service will be held in Grace Episcopal Church on Saturday, September 20, 2014 at 2:00 p.m.  There are no calling hours.  Burial will be private.  Memorial contributions may be made to the Amherst Historical Society, 67 Amity Street, Amherst, MA  01002. Obituary and memorial register at www.douglassfuneral.com.

Service details, Social networking, Memorial Guestbook and Slideshow are available here.

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