Mollie Doreen Gafney

B.Sc., A.M. Harvard March 25, 1926 - December 2, 2021 Mollie Doreen Gafney, 95, died suddenly at Leaside Retirement Residence, East York on December 2, 2021. Born on March 25, 1926 in Enfield, Middlesex, England (which was mentioned in the Domesday Book!), she was the younger daughter of the late Alfred and Christina (Cooke) Gafney and loving sister of the late Kitty Gafney. During WWII she was evacuated with her family to Harrogate, England and then in 1949 immigrated with them to Canada. After a brief move to Australia, the family returned to Toronto and Mollie went to the United States for twelve years. She attended Springfield College in Massachusetts and then studied at Radcliffe College at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She taught at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY and City College of New York in New York City before returning to Toronto in 1968 where she taught at Centennial College until her retirement. Mollie was athletic in younger years, loved to dance, and was a voracious reader, but her great passion was travel. She sailed by ship around the world twice and was dunked by King Neptune at the International Date Line. There were multiple visits to Venice, Paris and Rome. Not content with sailing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, she sailed down the Nile between the Aswan Dam and Cairo, flew over Mt. Everest and was fortunate to explore Kathmandu before the devastation of the 2015 earthquake. There were annual pilgrimages to London. The National Gallery, Portrait Gallery and the Tate were constant haunts. Every summer, for more than fifty years, found her spending time in Rockport, Massachusetts. She often mentioned she was glad she traveled when she did. She retained her memories and she was able to relate entertaining reminiscences to the end of her life. For many years, she lived with her sister in their home on Four Oaks Gate in East York surrounded by a magical and fragrant garden she designed and tended which was inspired by her father’s gardens and the many gardens she had visited around the world. Mollie remained fiercely independent to the last day of her life and lived on her own terms to the best of her ability. She was the final member of her artistic, tightknit, nuclear family to die, but she is remembered for her energy and joy of life by those she touched around the world. Cremation has taken place and she will be buried near her sister in St. James Cemetery.