Obituary for Dorothea Pauline Kaufman (Randall)

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Life Story for Dorothea Pauline Kaufman (Randall)

An Excerpt: Remembering Dorothea Kaufman's Grand Day by Linda Grace


My mother has told me that she is proud of the fact that her firstborn is succeeding as a college student. "I've always known you could do anything you wanted." She recognizes herself in me. " I've always known you were perfect. When I protest, she says, "I don't understand how you can feel otherwise." Mother's love is unconditional. Even if no one is perfect, I do my best, but being perfect can be a heavy burden. What I really feel driven to pursue is excellence. I like knowing that I am doing a good job. I feel that I must continue with the standard I set for myself. Perhaps it is my Mother' s example of perseverance that I have taken for my model, as she was my first teacher.
She finished her masters in education while I was very young. She made sure I had opportunities to try new things, so I developed a taste for new experiences. I have a love of classical music, which filled the background of our home. She had a set of art books that had wonderful prints of the masters, which I frequently visited. When I was eleven or twelve, she gave me her copy of The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran. We did lots of things together like puddle walking, running off to the beach at the end of her workday, or even traveling the state to visit families with blind children, which was part of her job. I went with her to meetings and was often in the company of adults.
After a lifetime of teaching, starting with a one-room school in Jackson, Maine, she taught kindergarten in Newton and Framingham until she retired in 1982. Mother raised five children. She also recovered from cancer. The doctors had said that she would live only a couple of months. For eleven years after her retirement, Dorothea and her sister Lynette ran a successful daycare center in Franklin. Mother had to curtail her activities in the business, because of vision problems, aggressive macular degeneration, which left her legally blind. One time, she told me "what I miss most is seeing the faces of those I love." Our sense of sight is often taken for granted and loosing the capacity to see, does not mean that other senses can ever replace that which is gone. Being a sighted person most of her life, she has a storehouse of memories, which are encapsulated reference points that continue to structure meaning. After a period of grieving, she carried on, by taking lessons from the Hadley School for the Blind and getting out with other people. She was vice-president for the Friendly Circle for the Blind and served as Chairman for the Council on Aging in her community for over a decade.
It seemed fitting that her community would reciprocate by honoring her in a special way. She was to be Grand Marshall in the 4th of July parade in 1999. Dorothea served in the U.S. Navy in WWII and was a link trainer instructor, a device, she explained, that was used to show pilots how to handle aircraf t solely by instruments with no outside visual points of reference. Her father had served in both world wars and two of her brothers and her son had been in the service. "All of my family was very patriotic, honoring the flag and country," she said when interviewed . Mother always loved the Fourth of July celebration. She remembered, staying up all night for the dawn to come as a child, when she would bang on pots and pans. This year the celebration would be extra special.
I saw how she prepared for the day with careful attention to detail. Is my hat straight? How does my make-up look? Check me over! I have to look cool for others on such a hot day. Her wonderful smile radiated her good nature. Dressed in red, white and blue, she was calm, collected and cheerful. I was happy to be doing anything I could to make her day memorable and easier. Finally ready to go, we set off for downtown. The fire engines made a deafening sound and the streets were lined with many people, old and young, who carried flags. It was a perfect sultry summer day! The white Corvette that Mother rode in followed an enormous, elaborately constructed, flag float that announced her status as Grand Marshall. The antique convertible car rolled along as Mother waved regally, even if she didn't see the people that lined the sidewalks. All kinds of groups followed, marching bands, clowns, and dancing groups performed, as they made their way down Main Street. Our family had gathered in the grandstand to wait for her arrival. This was a special day we will always remember.