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Service:
A celebration of Dort’s life and memorial service
will be scheduled at a later date.
Funeral home:
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader, Lincoln
Obituary
Dorothy “Dort” Gaffney, 101, of
Lincoln passed away at St. Clara’s Rehab and Senior
Care in Lincoln, on December 21, 2020. A celebration
of Dort’s life and memorial service will be
scheduled at a later date. Cremation rites have been
accorded.
Dort was born April 16, 1919 in Hickory Point, Macon
County, the daughter of Benjamin F. Harrison and
Wilda (Rowe) Harrison. She married Emory Clark
Gaffney on April 15, 1944 in Fort Myers, FL. They
were married for 72 years. He preceded her in death
on July 5, 2016.
She graduated from Lincoln High School and attended
Lincoln College. She and Emory opened an accounting
firm in downtown Lincoln at the Griesheim Building.
Dort served as Office Manager for their business.
Mrs. Gaffney was a member of the First Presbyterian
Church of Lincoln, where she taught Sunday School
classes. She was also a member of the Lincoln
Women’s Club and served as a volunteer at Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Hospital.
Dort had the most beautiful smile that she shared
with everyone, making them feel special and welcome.
She was known as the “hostess with the mostest!”
Dort made her extended family and friends a huge
part of her life by making holidays and birthdays
very special. Family members felt honored when
gifted with a sweater, mittens or scarf that were
lovingly stitched by her.
And, of course, there was the famous fudge that was
always expected at family get-togethers. It was a
team effort between Dort and Emory, with Dort
cooking and Emory stirring until “just the right
moment” when it was done and must be poured out of
the pan.
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Dort and Emory shared a love for
travel. They visited all 50 states, including
driving the Alaskan Highway, where they even stopped
along the way to post a “Lincoln 3,076 miles”
directional sign. They also made trips abroad to
Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Japan, China
(walked the Great Wall), Africa, Ireland, Scotland
and England.
Surviving Dort are her large extended family that
includes several nieces and nephews, nieces-in-law
and nephews-in-law: Geoff (Pam) Harrison; Kathy
(Bill) Daunais; Beth (Dave) Eckert; and
niece-in-law, Bobbi Abbott; Maureen (Bernard “Hop”)
Looney; Tim Harrison; Terry (Cari) Harrison;
Kathleen (Peter) Kollinger, Jack “Jay” (Debra)
Harrison, Jan Saylor, Joe (Teresa) Harrison, Pam
(Michael McArdle) Bubeck, Chris Harrison and Sean
(Jennifer) Harrison, Gerald (Susan) Dehner, Valerie
(Gary Crawford) Dehner, as well as many great-nieces
and great-nephews.
Dort was preceded in death by her parents; one
sister, Katherine Abbott; three brothers: Ben
Harrison, Jack Harrison, and Phil Harrison,
brother-in-law, Jim Abbott, and sisters-in-law:
Edith Clare Dehner, Eleanor Harrison, Dorothy (Buckstegge)
Harrison, and Ruth Harrison, nephews, J. Michael
Abbott and Andrew Auld; nieces-inlaw, Betty (Dehner)
Tiffany and Nancy (Dehner) Mathews and
nephew-in-law, Tom Tiffany.
Memorials may be made in Dorothy Gaffney’s name to
First Presbyterian Church of Lincoln, 301 Pekin St.,
Lincoln, IL.
Arrangements are entrusted to
Fricke-Calvert-Schrader Funeral Home in Lincoln.
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