Life with Zest and Originality Dorothy Boothe, former 31-year resident of Pacific Palisades (1963-1994), passed away from natural causes on November 15 in Ojai, at the grand age of 96. Her transition was peaceful and graceful with her son and daughter by her side. Born on April 10, 1911, Dorothy lived life with uncommon zest, enthusiasm, flair and originality. A progressive thinker, always open to new ideas, she was a lifelong active Unitarian (at the Santa Monica Unitarian Church from 1953 to 1994), a retired home-school teacher for the Santa Monica school district, liberal Democrat, patron of the arts, folk dancer and singer, world traveler, environmentalist and humanitarian. A strong believer in positive thinking and personal self-improvement, she was at the forefront of the natural health movement, advocating and practicing healthful eating habits her entire life. She was legendary for her green drinks and eating two or three lemons a day–rind, seed, pulp and all! Her clean living kept her ‘young’ and living independently until the last six months of life. Dorothy was greatly concerned about world hunger, over-population and the environment and was a lifelong supporter of numerous welfare and charitable organizations. Going back 60 years, long before it was fashionable, she was conscientiously recycling and conserving resources. Affectionately kidded in her family as the original recycler, she often wrapped presents in unused wallpaper and made Christmas tree decorations out of tin cans. Originality was her specialty. Dorothy celebrated our humanity and diversity through theater and the arts. She regularly saw theatrical productions, indie-art films and musical concerts, frequently visited museums, cathedrals and botanic gardens and heard talks with great visionaries and thinkers of our time, including Alan Watts, the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King. O ne highlight of her life: attending an intimate musical evening in 1940 with Cedric Wright and Ansel Adams in the Berkeley Hills. She was a performer herself, singing folk songs and playing the autoharp for the Sunday youth worship services and creating costumes as well as giving dramatized readings, like ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas,’ for the church holiday services. The lucky ones who saw the ‘Dance of the Eight Veils’ at her 80th birthday celebration will never forget her svelte shape wrapped in scarves and her sense of play and youthfulness. Dorothy first moved to Pacific Palisades in 1963 with her high school children to start anew after her divorce. Coming from West L.A., she said she chose the Palisades to be surrounded by the ‘wondrous beauty of the mountains and the sea.’ Early on, she took almost daily dips in the winter ocean, qualifying for the Polar Bear club. She loved walking the hills above her Kagawa Street home or walking to the Palisades bluffs. In her later years, special joys were church activities, chamber music concerts, ‘Mind Super Mind’ lectures, gardening, cooking, reading, creating zany hats, writing limericks, studying world religions and mysticism, pursuing peaceful ways to resolve conflict and celebrating others by giving out big hugs to her family, neighbors and friends. Always thinking of others, Dorothy soon became good friends with her Palisades neighbors, including Mimi and Ken Adams, who lived next door and grew to be her dearest and closet friends. In 1980, her grown daughter Carolyn moved back to town with her husband Ted and their baby Timmy, buying a home three blocks away on McKendree Avenue. They lived there for nine wonderful years before moving to Ojai. ‘Timmy has brought the purest joy I have ever known,’ Grandma Dorothy wrote back then. ‘The sidewalk is wearing thin between our houses.’ She eagerly embraced the sophisticated and enriching artistic, cultural and civic aspects of the Palisades. She joined the U.S. Chinese People’s Friendship Association and Servas, an international community of global peace seekers who travel and network for peace. She hosted exchange students from India, China and Japan. She served on the Human Relations Council and supported Theatre Palisades. She sought out interesting classes, workshops and lecture series, ballroom dancing, yoga, piano and guitar lessons. In 1990 she chaired and arranged programs for the Over 50 Club. A longtime member of the League of Women Voters, she regularly let her home be used as a neighborhood precinct voting site. Dorothy served as chairperson and producer of the ‘Connoisseur Concerts Series’ in 1975-1977. ‘Those two years were as rewarding as they were time-consuming,’ she wryly commented. Later, she served as coordinator for a state-funded mural project in 1979-80 after the California Arts Council awarded her church a grant to sponsor mural artist Ann Thiermann (a former Palisadian) in the creation of five historical murals on the Westside. Besides beautifying the city, Dorothy said the best reward from that project was the 30-year friendship with Ann. In a note she dictated to her caregiver to be read after she passed on, Dorothy said how lucky she was to have so many wonderful friends. She never forgot a friend’s birthday and often sent a card with quotes or limericks to commemorate the occasion. Her parting words were, ‘Thank you, God,’ and ‘Love, love everybody.’ She will be deeply missed by her son, Richard Boothe and fianc’ Jeani Barrett of Seal Beach; her daughter, Carolyn Moore (husband Ted) of Ojai; five grandchildren, five nieces and nephews, seven great-grandchildren, and a multitude of devoted, caring friends. As she requested, she was cremated and her ashes buried next to her parents and brother in Twin Falls Cemetery. A celebration of her life will be held next spring, when her favorite lilacs are blooming, on April 12 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.
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