Thomas Patrick Dooling

Mom (Lois Anne, 1932-2022) & Dad were high school sweethearts from the age of 14 & I have a photo of the 2 of them riding their bikes at that age. They married on Sept 13, 1954 in Cranbrook & raised 4 children, a daughter, Shannon Lee (1955) in Surrey, & 3 sons, James Patrick (1957-1975), Timothy Edward (1959) in Vernon & Brian Thomas (1963) in Comox together with his wife, Cathy, & their 2 adult children, Kaitlyn & Matthew.

We were honoured to have Dad as the patriarch of our family reunion held in Sept of 2025 where 21 nieces & nephews (plus their spouses) gathered together for the first time in decades. The end of an era & the last surviving parent on mom’s side of the family. On Dad’s immediate side of the family, he’s survived by 1 brother, Peter (Deb) having been predeceased by his twin brother Robert & sister-in-law Joan, & his older sister, Doreen. Doreen’s husband, Marv Johnson & dad considered each other to be best friends & were the same age-they were able to celebrate Dad’s 94th birthday in April. He also leaves to mourn numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, & friends.

A welder by trade Dad worked for Finning Tractor in Cranbrook, Quality Welding in Dawson Creek, & Finning in Vernon. He & his best friend, Ernie Dagenais subsequently ran their own welding business D&D Welding for yrs before they sold it Dad then worked for a while at Highmont Mine in Logan Lake & ended his career with Tri-West Tractor in Kelowna, retiring at the age of 60.

Dad had such a strong work ethic & prided himself on providing for his family while enabling mom to be able to stay home full time to raise us. He valued organization & promptness & was never ever late for anything in his life, a trait instilled in each of us kids to this day. He passed on his financial knowledge & loved researching & investing in the stock markets. CNN was his favourite channel! Sports was another huge passion of his, having played a lot in his younger life - few know that he was ambidextrous. Dad was a humble, kind, social, & generous soul. He had the firmest handshake & was an inspiration to people he met. Many referred to him as their “favourite uncle”.

He met health challenges with grace & solitude, from circulation & cardiac issues to complications from COPD. In Jan of this yr, his body began to fail him after fracturing his leg in a fall. It cascaded from there into 6 wks of hospitalization, 2.5 months in short-stay rehab, having to be hospitalized again for 2 wks with pneumonia, & finally to Hospice. He was so grateful to spend his final week on earth in a beautiful, peaceful environment, & being cared for with the respect, dignity, & compassion that he craved & deserved.

There will be a Memorial Mass held at Dad’s request on May 26th at 4:30 pm at the St. James Catholic Church, organized by the wonderful ladies there who visited dad regularly the last 3 months to offer him comfort & prayer. He will be interred with Lois & together they will rest at their son’s gravesite at Pleasant Valley Cemetery.

You will be missed Dad & Grandpa but you left a wonderful legacy,

Love Shannon, Tim, Brian, Cathy, Kaitlyn & Matthew