After almost a century of varied experience, Dorothy “Dorrie” Stockton Getchell passed peacefully on March 31 at age 96, surrounded by family all round. It was a bright spring day with sunlight streaming thru open windows. One couldn’t ask for a better way to move from one existence to the next.

She was born May 21, 1929 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jerssey, to Richard Stockton and Elizabeth Horton. Young Dorrie grew up on a succession of equestrian farms, kicking off a lifelong connection to horses and horse people in Pony Club and beyond. Her mother owned a girl’s summer camp in western Maine, where Dorrie started as a (very) junior camper and eventually grew into one of the senior counselors of Camp Newfound. It was here she discovered her lifelong love of Maine lakes, canoes and beaches. Those camper skills translated to years as swim teacher at the Camden YMCA, and memorable summers as lifeguard at Chickawaukee Lake.

In 1950, she married David Getchell Sr., and the resulting union lasted 67 years with two children, Dave Jr. of Camden and Heidi of Lincolnville.

After the kids struck off on their own, she developed an enduring love of bicycle touring. This started with local rides around midcoast Maine, then off to the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec, the Scottish Highlands, and who knows where else. In the 1980s, she and Dave Sr. pedaled cross-country twice, Maine to Washington state, camping here and there under highway underpasses, roadside turnouts, and in the backyards of accommodating folks they met en route. 

Dave Sr was involved with the original mapping and organization of the Maine Island Trail, a sort of watery Appalachian Trail that hopped island to island along the Maine coast. In the early days of the Maine Island Trail Association, Dorrie was the quiet anchor of the new group, managing the membership list and keeping the books. Many MITA members fond memories of her outreach as the association gained thousands of members and brought so much awareness and support to the coastal islands of Maine. 

She was always an avid bird-watcher, a classic example of which had her sitting on a low chair next to the family Jeep wagon “Big Blue” out on Popham Beach, peering through binoculars to spy on seabirds and incidentally keep track of her guys who were surf fishing on the outer sandbars.

After Dave Sr.’s passing in 2017, she helped the town of Appleton acquire shoreside land on Sherman’s Mill Pond for the new Getchell Family Park, conserving public access to the lake.

Extra-special thanks go out to the staff and residents at Bartlett Woods in Rockland, where she found a home and deep community in her later years.

Dorrie was a most wise and wonderful mom, teaching her family how to believe in themselves and their value, and to have faith in their own abilities. She somehow maintained a positive attitude despite her gang’s many outdoor misadventures.

Dorrie was predeceased by her brother, Dave Beck, and her sisters, Sally and Barbara. 

She is survived by her daughter, Heidi Perkins and husband Dave; son, Dave Jr. and partner Randy Fein; granddaughter Ali and husband Jordan LaTorre of Hillsbourough, North Carolina; and granddaughter Holly and husband Albert McCarthy of Brighton, Massachusetts.

A celebration of Dorrie’s life will be held May 23, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Perkins home, 717 High Street in Lincolnville. You can RSVP by phone or text to 207-329-6816.