Dorothy J. Borland

BORLAND, Dorothy J., age 75, of Rochester Hills, May 22, 2011; mother of Brian (Cindy) Martin and Eric Martin; also survived by seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren; Dorothy retired in 2003 as an Executive Secretary from Sanyo Machine America Corp. after 16 ½ years; she was a member of the O.E.S. Clawson #495 and a member of the Red Hat Ladies; Funeral service 11:00 a.m. Thursday (in-state at 10 a.m.) at the First Congregational Church of Christ, 1315 N. Pine Street, Rochester; visitation Wednesday 2-4 & 6-8 p.m. at Pixley Funeral Home, 322 W. University Dr., Rochester with an Eastern Star Service 7 p.m. Wednesday; Please leave condolences at www.pixleyfuneralrochester.com

Her lifelong dream was to visit her parent’s families in England and Scotland which she was able to do in 1947.

In Dorothy’s words: “The trip took over nine days on a converted troop ship. (No Frills!) In Shannon, Ireland we anchored out in the bay and watched them unload mail, luggage, etc. onto a smaller boat tied up to our ship. Some of the men were smoking and the mail caught on fire; hoses from the ship were used; they were in such bad condition that everyone got wet.

The return trip was on a small two engine plane holding about 48 people. Breakfast was at 1:30 a.m. in Newfoundland (where the airport was just being built) a wooden walkway led us from the plane to the building where we ate. Coming into Boston the weather became rough and you could actually feel your body lifting from your seat. We finally arrived in New York where some of the family had waited 24 hours without word of when we would actually arrive (blackout from the war was still in effect.)”