Rose Pho Dorish 89 was born in Estavan, Sask. in 1927 to parents of Russian descent. The family has spent more than 100 years in Canada after leaving Odessa, Russia in the year of 1913.
She owned and operated The House of Flowers, a florist shop that thrived because of her belief in a quality product and the delivery of good service. She did a tremendous amount of sales as a result of being associated with the Florist Transworld Delivery service also known as FTD. FTD was a floral wire service that was originally founded as Florists' Telegraph Delivery in 1910 to help customers send flowers remotely and on the same day by using florists in the FTD network who were near the intended recipient. With the arrival of credit cards, people could now bypass FTD and order flowers for delivery on their own through grocery stores as well as simply placing a long distance call to a florist in the intended location including overseas deliveries.
Eventually FTD, who held a near monopoly position in the florist market, sold out to a private company and Rose's volume of business changed dramatically.
Rose continued to design and create arrangements of flowers for her customers until she retired from the business in 1992 at the age of 65. Rose said, "I retired and went into full time volunteering. I found volunteering very rewarding and it gave me a chance to give something back to the community."
Over the years she received many awards and recognition for her volunteer work. She received a 70 year service, leadership, and volunteer award from the Knox United Church as well as the Prince George Outstanding Volunteer Award of Merit and the Canadian Mental Health Award from the Northern Health Authority.
Her volunteer work included serving on the board of directors for the White Cane Society, the Prince George Council of Seniors, the Prince George Hospice Society and the Elder Citizens Recreation Association.
Rose was proud to say, "I started the AimHi Society in 1965. I worked from 1965 to 1970 advocating for young adults with special needs. The service has grown over the years and is now known as the AiMHi Prince George Association for Community Living."
Rose reminisced back in time and said, "25 years ago Zella Taylor, George Fedyk, Freda Greenlees and I started the still successful drama club at the Elder Citizens Recreation Centre. Our favorite saying was 'to soon old and to late smart.' We had years and years of fun and laughter and we made many great friendships.
"I raised four sons, ran my own business and volunteered as much as I could and I still had time for people. I now have 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. I am happy with my life, my friends and my family."
Rose started losing her eyesight 30 years ago due to macular degeneration. She battled cancer and is now under care for Parkinson's disease. She said, "Five years ago I looked at life in the face of death and I learned that the rest of my life will be the best of my life.
"For the past year I have been living at the Gateway Residential Care Facility and I am very happy there. There comes a time in your life when you finally get it - my time came - and I realized that it was time to move into assisted living or a care home. I learned that we should all be thankful for so many things. After facing death in palliative care for several years I now know that God did not forsake me. Since I came to that understanding I am no longer afraid to talk about death. Since then I have slowly started to recover and now I know that I will never give up. I am taking it one day at a time and crossing each new bridge as I get to it."
***
September birthdays that I know about: Christine Hinzman, Alberto Sultano, Rino Fornari, Clarence Wigmore, Claude Bussieres, Eva Werlberger, John Werlberger, Roberta Barnes, Ernesteen McNeil, Colin Blair, Vi Merritt, Alan Thorp, Kathy Schick, Joellen Burgess, Velma Wortman, Karin Burke, Bernice Helsoe, Irene Rigler, Mike Bundock, Len Shankel, Ernie Myers, Vern Wright, Bill Palmer, Mike Padalec, Brian Kelly, Mary Campbell, Ray Lougheed, Anita Robertson, Bill MacIver, Roberta Johansen, Gerda Korolek, Marie Moore, Marie Trew, Linton Walker, Russell Padalec, Kelly Ashton, Betty Anne Brittons, Marcella Dunbar, Howard Orser, Winnie Mikolayczyk, Eldie Ward, Mary Dutka, Marie Sumners, Barb Jensen, Kate Ormiston, David Milne, Bea Stanley, Sandra Blake-Knox, Diane Bock, Mike Furze, Lester B Pearson, Jean Wall, Susan Folwer, Mary Jane Campbell, Leo Manning, Andrew Salton, Dan Clay, Emelia Cote, Marie Harmon, Celestina Johnson, Esko Karlson, Benita Karlson, Velma Senner and 97 years for Eva St. Pierre.
Anniversaries for September: 63 years for Rino and Rosa Fornari, 62 years for Jack and Louise Little, 61 years for George and Hilda Lippke, 57 years for Arnold and Leona (Buchi) Nyberg, 50 years for Roland and Barbara Chartrand and 43 years for Denis and Shirley Dunkley.
