Dorothy Margaret Magnuson passed away peacefully on October 18, 2018.  She was 89 years old. 

Dot was born on June 26, 1929 in Watertown, Massachusetts., the older of two daughters to Swedish immigrant parents, Charles and Frida Lindestrand. She graduated from Watertown High School. She continued on to Lasell College and then Boston University, graduating with a B.A. in history.

In 1953 she married Edward Ephraim Magnuson of Arlington, Massachusetts. Dot and Ed lived in Arlington until 1960, and then moved to Belmont, Mass. where they raised their four daughters.  In 1990, they retired to Camden, Maine, a favorite family vacation destination.  

A dedicated wife and mother, Dot’s work was centered in the home until the early 1970s, when she took a position in the medical records department of Sancta Maria Hospital and subsequently Mount Auburn Hospital where she worked full-time through 1990.  She was resourceful, clever, curious, gregarious and bright, and eagerly tackled new projects.  She was an excellent seamstress, and made much of her own clothing, and as well as her girls’. Her family recalls many evenings with Dot at the sewing machine, or meticulously laying out patterns on the dining room table.  When the living room couch needed recovering, she took a course in upholstery and did it herself.  When personal computers were coming on the scene in the early 1980s, Dot took a course in Basic programming at the local high school.  She carried her love of history her entire life, read extensively, and shared her enthusiasm for books she discovered with others.  A conserver of resources throughout her life, she was “green” before it had a secondary meaning. A master at ‘going out double’, no one was a match for Dot in a game of gin rummy.

When she moved to Maine, Dot remained busy.  Putting her familiarity with hospitals to work, she was a dedicated volunteer at Pen Bay Medical Center for 20 years.  Dot cherished both the time spent and friendships made as a member and active volunteer at Merryspring Nature Center.  Despite never having owned a dog previously, she and Ed adopted dogs over in their later years and spent much time walking the trails at Merryspring and Camden Hills State Park with their furry companions, Brandon and Jake. Most of all during these years, Dot was grandmother extraordinaire, always at the ready with interesting books, comforting homemade treats, and undivided attention.  

Dot was predeceased by her husband Edward Magnuson.  Dot is survived her four daughters Nancy Geise of Underhill, Vermont, Carolyn Sienkiewicz of Huntingtown, Maryland, Elizabeth Magnuson of Charlotte, Vermont, and Andrea Denny of Rockport, Maine; four son-in-laws Peter Geise, Joseph Sienkiewicz, Carl Mahoney and Eric Denny; eleven grandchildren, Elizabeth and Anne Parmalee, Matthew, Benjamin and Megan Sienkiewicz, Katharine and Eric Mahoney and Nicholas, Marta, Tor and Britta Denny; and her grandchildren’s spouses, Gregory Norstrom (Elizabeth Parmalee) and Sara Sienkiewicz (Matthew Sienkiewicz).  She is also survived by her sister, Nancy Sager, of Cromwell, Connecticut.

The family wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Quarry Hill for the attentive, tender and loving care given to Dorothy.

A celebration of Dot’s life and remembrance ceremony will be planned at a later date.

Memorial donations may be made to the Camden Public Library, 55 Main Street, Camden, ME  04843.