Barbara L. (Shippey) Dorhamer

Barbara Louise (Shippey) Dorhamer, 91, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Emerson Hospital in Concord, MA. Barbara was born in Indianapolis, IN, on October 31, 1930, the daughter of Edward C. and Helen (Looney) Shippey. She moved to Greenfield, MA, at the age of two, where she resided for most of the rest of her life. She attended local schools and is a graduate of Greenfield High School Class of 1948.

During her teen years, she was very active in 4-H and became an accomplished seamstress. She won many awards for the clothing that she made. In 1949, she was chosen to be one of the Massachusetts delegates to the national 4-H conference in Chicago. She made all of her own clothes, including suits, hats, and coats, as well as clothes for her sisters and later her daughters.

After high school, she worked for her father, assisting him with bookkeeping for multiple businesses, and also at the First National Bank in Greenfield. Once her three daughters were in school, she worked as a bookkeeper for A.R. Sandri in Greenfield until she retired at age 78.

Barbara met Ray Dorhamer at the wedding of their friends, Eunice and Bebe Parenteau. They married in 1955 and celebrated 61 years of marriage before Ray passed away in 2017.

She was a lifelong communicant of Holy Trinity and Blessed Sacrament Churches in Greenfield.

Her high school yearbook says, “Barbara makes friends easily and keeps them.” She was very loyal to her childhood friends who met on a monthly basis for many years until it was no longer possible for them to get out and about.

Barbara was predeceased by her beloved husband, Raymond S. Dorhamer, her sisters, Elizabeth Kirkwood and Nancy Isotti, and her brothers-in-law, John Kirkwood, Robert Isotti, and Richard Hinkley.

Among her survivors, Barbara leaves her sister, Alice Hinkley, of Lawrenceville, GA; her daughter Karen Dorhamer-Fadden and her husband Rick Fadden of Stow, MA; her daughter Debbie Dorhamer Ehrmann and her husband Jon Ehrmann of Sudbury, MA; her daughter Diane Dorhamer of Sterling, VA; three grandchildren, Amy Fadden of Greenfield, MA, Scott Ehrmann of Cambridge, MA, and Hannah Ehrmann of Dauphin Island, AL; and many nieces and nephews.

A Liturgy of Christian Burial will be held at 11 am on Friday, May 20, at Blessed Sacrament Church, 221 Federal Street, Greenfield. Burial will follow at Center Cemetery in Bernardston.

A calling hour will be held Friday morning from 9:45 am to 10:45 am at the Kostanski Funeral Home, 220 Federal Street, Greenfield. The family respectfully requests masks be worn.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to one of the following: Blessed Sacrament Church, 221 Main St, Greenfield, MA 01301; Warm the Children c/o The Greenfield Recorder, P.O. Box 1367, 14 Hope St, Greenfield, MA 01302; Dakin Humane Society, P.O. Box 6307, Springfield, MA 01101

Arrangements are under the direction of the Kostanski Funeral Home.  For condolences, please visit www.kostanskifuneralhome.com

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