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Dolores (O'Toole) Bedingfield

Dolores (O'Toole) Bedingfield

Born In: Renews, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Born: September 27th, 1937

Passed in: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
Passed on: December 19th, 2018

BEDINGFIELD
Dolores
Passed away in the presence of her family on December 19th, 2018, Dolores O’Toole Bedingfield of Tulsa, Oklahoma, formerly of Renews. Leaving to mourn her husband, Ben; her daughters Valery (husband Shaun); Siobhan (husband Hollis), and her grandsons Logan and Ted. All who reside in Tulsa, OK. Also left to mourn are her sisters Angela Burton, Geraldine O’Toole Norwood, Fidelma Hildreth and Charmaigne O’Toole Wegenest and her brothers Silver, Ted and Leslie O’Toole. Born in Renews in 1937, she was the eldest of Tom and Violet O Toole’s (nee Lawlor) eight children. Her early childhood years were spent on the South Side of Renews Harbour, in the cradle of Quinlan’s Hill. She was a child of imagination and unbridled curiosity. Reading was discovery and exploration on every page. The more she read the more she desperately longed to make her way in the wider world. She had no precise plan, but she knew she wanted an education. In 1954, at the age of 16, she won the inaugural scholarship for the electoral district of Ferryland, enabling her to attend the Memorial University on Parade Street. It is during her time in St. John’s she met Ben, stationed there by the British Royal Navy. They were married in 1960 and after her graduation in 1960 they pursued opportunity where it presented itself. First it was Ottawa, then finally Tulsa, OK. She spent her working life in careers in academia and law. Upon retirement in the mid 1990’s, she stakes a claim to the exact spot from which she started out. She built her summer home at the base of Quinlan’s Hill in Renews. For 25 years, she cultivates her garden by the sea, from spring to fall, returning to the US in the winter. These are happy times for her, Ben and her O’Toole siblings who mark her arrival each year. Siblings follow with summer homes of their own. She helps usher in a new era within a Newfoundland family that had gone off in multiple directions. The one so eager to leave is the one who decides to come home. She makes up for lost time. Her mark is made. Her work is done. A memorial service is planned for a future time.

If adventures will not befall a young lady in her own village, she must seek them abroad – Jane Austen

 

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