Dorothy “Dottie” Westwick died peacefully in her sleep on March 31, 2020 after a long and stoic struggle with kidney disease. She was born on June 24, 1931 in Gary, Indiana to William and Florence Keirn. Growing up in the Great Depression taught her resilience, but she had happy memories of summers on the family farm in Mar-shall, Missouri.
The family moved to Upland, California in 1946, where her father helped build the Kaiser Steel plant in Fontana. She graduated from Chaffey High School in 1949, and she attended Chaffey College for one year and Missouri Valley College for a year, and then the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California. At UCSB she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and graduated with a degree in English literature, and she then earned a masters degree in English from Stanford. In 1955 she married Robert J. (Jim) Westwick, whom she had met at UCSB. They lived for a year in Germany while he served in the U.S. Army and then in San Francisco, before returning permanently to Santa Barbara in 1959. They had three children: Anne, John, and Peter. Dottie studied and taught court reporting at SB Business College, and then worked for many years as a medical transcriber at the SB Medical Foundation Clinic. For over two decades she enjoyed the companionship of Allen Michelet and, more recently, Ted Baum.
Dottie was a remarkably independent woman. Over two summers when her children were small she loaded them in her VW squareback and drove the length of Mexico with their close friends, the Day family from San Diego. As a single mother working full-time, she often sacrificed her own interests to raise her children.
Dottie had a sharp intellect and a lifelong love of learning. She was a great storyteller and a keen reader and writer, and her love of literature no doubt contributed to her per-ceptive understanding of human nature. She also loved music; she was an accomplished pianist and was a regular attendee of the SB Symphony and the Music Academy’s summer sessions. She liked to travel, especially to France. She was an excellent cook and her kitchen was a regular way station for all her kids’ friends. She was a longtime member of the Junior League of Santa Barbara and a devoted parishioner at All Saints Church for over fifty years.
Above all, Dottie was social. She loved nothing better than a backyard barbecue, with family and friends sharing talk and laughter.
Dottie is survived by her brother Don Keirn (Christine) of Hailey, Idaho; children Anne Westwick (Christopher Dolder) of Dallas, Texas, John (Elizabeth) Westwick of SB, and Peter (Medeighnia) Westwick of SB; and seven grandchildren. A celebration of her life will take place at a later date.
