SCARBOROUGH – Dorothy Bjorn Bates of Falmouth passed away on Monday June 22, 2020, five days before her 95th birthday while at Gosnell House. She was born in Falmouth to Albert and Marian Ramsdell Bjorn. She attended local schools until graduating from Falmouth High in 1943. Dottie married her childhood sweetheart Gerald M. Bates Jr. on May 1949 and together they shared 57 years of marriage before his death in 2006. Growing up, she helped her sister, Barbara, exercise the horses at Payson Estate. After high school, she began working at various insurance companies working her way up to insurance adjuster and other duties.While her husband was getting his master’s, she worked for the Dean of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as his private assistant. On off hours and after retiring, she worked with her husband surveying properties all over the state. The two were very active outdoorsman – camping, canoeing, fishing, hiking, skiing, sailing, snowmobiling – often takin his little brother, Richard, and their dog, Spookie, with them in the early days together. During those years, Dottie taught swimming at the Y after doing her own long distance swimming. When they has spare time, they travelled all over the world – the Amazon, Africa, Australia, Europe, etc. right up to her husband’s death. Many times, they were the guests of the Canadian Government when canoeing the Allagash River.For many years, she worked with the Audubon Society on their annual Loon Count on Sebago Lake and was a member of the local Gray Grange Society. She was a true Mainer and remained independent living in her own home or camp until four months ago when she took her second fall. Dottie is predeceased by her husband Gerald “Maynard” Bates Jr.; her sister, Barbara Bjorn Leighton and her husband George, her sister-in-law, Alice Bates; and her beloved dog, Spookie.She is survived by her brother-in-law, Richard; niece, Penelope; cousins, Richard and Judy and their children; also, dear old friends, Ted and Delores Vail, Mark and Nancy Kearst, and their children, Madeline Taylor and Mary Morris Honin. A graveside service was celebrated on June 2 at Pine Grove Cemetery in Falmouth. You may offer your condolences or share your memories at http://www.lindquistfuneralhome.com.

Copy the Story Link