Dorothy Griswold Gough Bigley

Dorothy ( Dottie) was born to Lt. Col. William Griswold Gough and Louise Marie Mohr in Phoenix, Arizona. She moved to San Diego, California in 1924 and enjoyed her elementary school years on the family ranch in El Cajon.

Following the Great Depression, in 1933, Dorothy's family moved to Lake Tahoe and built the family home, the local Lutheran Church, and Lutheran Retreat house.

In 1939, Dorothy's family moved to the Sacramento area, pioneered Fair Oaks, California and purchased land to break ground for Faith Lutheran Church, including the Pastor's parsonage, Vicar's house and homes for teachers and staff for the new school. In 1963 her father supervised the design and development of today's church building, referred to as the " New Church".

The Gough family shared their love for Lake Tahoe and developed Mount Tallac Lutheran Camp for Faith Church.

Dorothy graduated from San Juan High School and pursued her artistic passion and received a Bachelors degree in Art from Sacramento City College. She continued her education in nursing at Samuel Merritt Hospital in Oakland California and became a Registered Nurse. She was the first nurse to assist in administering penicillin in California.

She worked at Mather Air Force Base in the pre-mature nursery where she met Brian Bigley. They married in 1947 at Faith Lutheran Church and raised five children. Dorothy worked at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Labor and Delivery for 12 years and subsequently became a Psychiatric Nurse at American River and Sutter Memorial Hospitals.

She continued to visit her most beloved Lake Tahoe throughout the years and enjoyed camping, painting water colors and the sights, sounds and fragrance of the Sierra.

She was a loving and caring person who touched the lives of many.

She is survived by her five children, William, Carol, Deborah, Rebecca and Brete. 11 Grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. 3 nieces and 1 nephew.

There will be a Memorial Service held in Dorothy's honor at 10:00 AM on Saturday June 30, 2012 at Faith Lutheran Church in Fair Oaks (4000 San Juan Ave Fair Oaks, CA 95628).