Catherine Dilworth – January 27, 1905 to April 5, 2005
Catherine Ann Dilworth was born in Kamloops, January 27, 1905. She was the daughter of British parents who met in Canada. Her mother, Kate McLaughlan, had moved to Canada with her family from Scotland prior to 1891 or 1892. Kate taught school in Notch Hill in the early 1900s. Catherine’s father, John Dilworth, emigrated from England to New York prior to 1900 and then to Los Angeles.
Catherine’s parents were married on January 8, 1902, and John Dilworth gave his address as the Village of Kault when he married Kate McLaughlan in Vancouver. Her father, a bookkeeper, was a pioneer in the Sorrento-Carlin area where he worked at the Carlin Sawmill. The sawmill operated on the shore of Shuswap Lake (more or less below the present-day Trickle Inn). Both her parents were well educated, and, in fact, her father wrote a book about log scaling that was used by B.C. Interior Foresters.
Catherine’s parents acquired a tract of land on the west side of Sorrento to develop a family farm. It is called the Dilworth farmto this day. The land, once known as Maplehurst Ranch, took many years to develop as it was cleared by hand. For a number of years, the Dilworth’s also maintained a home in Victoria so their children could receive a good education. They had three children: Roger, Catherine and Jack. Catherine did receive some of her schooling in Notch Hill.
Following in the footsteps of her mother to dedicate her life to others, this sensitive, soft spoken and gentle young lady decided in the early 1920’s to become a registered nurse. By 1929, Catherine had graduated with honours from the Kamloops Hospital Academy of Nursing. She practiced nursing in the Kamloops Hospital and then later moved to work at the B.C. Tranquille Sanitarium for Consumptive Patients about ten miles from Kamloops. She nursed in Vancouver for a number of years before moving to San Francisco, California, where she worked until the end of the 1960’s. She retired and returned to Sorrento to care for her ninety-year-old mother. Catherine was remembered as a soft-spoken woman and a former member of the St. Mary’s Women’s Guild. In 1998, Catherine Dilworth moved to Bastion Place. The staff there recalled her as a gracious and undemanding lady who was so very appreciative the staff and that made it very easy to do the little extras for her.
Catherine Dilworth passed away peacefully in Bastion Place in Salmon Arm on April 3, 2005 at the grand age of 100 years.
November 15, 2007, was National Philanthropy Day in Canada. By a happy coincidence, it was also the day the Sorrento Lions Club presented a cheque for $75,451.05 to the Shuswap Community Foundation, bumping the Foundation’s total capital over the $2 million mark. The Foundation will use the Lions’ gift to establish a permanent endowment fund known as the “Sorrento Lions Club-Catherine Dilworth Memorial Endowment Fund.”
A few years ago, Catherine Dilworth, a long-time resident of the South Shuswap community, bequeathed the Sorrento Lions Club $239,000 from her estate and requested the money be used for the betterment of the community. And the Lions Club did just that! They added over $174,000 to the Shuswap Hospital Foundation’s CT Scanner Fund and now over $75,000 to the Foundation.
