Dorothy M. Warren, a resident of Wake Robin Life Plan Community in Shelburne, Vermont, died on June 12, 2023, at age 91. She was predeceased by her husband, John Hutton, originally of Brattleboro, Vermont, as well as by her father T. Edgar Warren, mother May Warren (née Lees), and brother Alexander Warren (a World War II veteran), all of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Dorothy was born in Hamilton, Ontario, on March 17, 1932, and raised in St. Catharines. Her English/Scottish parents went to Canada on their honeymoon and stayed.
Dorothy’s time at Syracuse University (where she earned the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts) convinced her that the United States was worth investigating and hence her trip to New York City, where she worked for a few years in the world of advertising. She enjoyed the city’s many cultural activities, including a stint at the Art Students’ League. Fun and friendship generated fond memories, such as horseback riding in Central Park with her apartment mates.
Dorothy returned to Canada in the 1960s and taught for 25 years, mostly eighth-grade math, English, and art. During this time, she completed another degree in English literature, through McMaster University’s extension program in Hamilton, Ontario. Following her passion as an artist, in the 1970s Dorothy traveled to Belgium and painted full-time for a year at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Liege.
At about the time she was preparing to retire from public school teaching, Dorothy married Vermont attorney John Hutton. In Vermont’s Mad River Valley, where she and John lived in Warren for many years, Dorothy was an active member of the art community. A past member of the Vermont Watercolor Society, she showed her work in a variety of venues in northern Vermont. Her paintings are in private collections in Canada, Scotland, England, Belgium, and the United States. Dorothy was also a talented writer. As one of the Mad River Poets, she contributed to the poetry collection they published, “Pebbles from the Stream,” and also created the painting that adorns the cover of that volume.
Dorothy and John moved to Wake Robin in 2007. There she continued writing poems and enjoyed taking part in a weekly discussion group known as TAP (Talking About Poetry). She also continued painting. She was an inspiring, gifted, and purposeful teacher who, for eight years, shared her knowledge and generous spirit with Wake Robin residents who attended the classes she taught in watercolor painting and in drawing. Her calm dignity, spiced with sparkling humor and sociability, is deeply missed.
John Hutton predeceased Dorothy in 2018. She leaves behind cherished family and friends, including a cousin, Mrs. Jennifer Biro of St. Catharines. A Circle of Remembrance for Dorothy will be held at Wake Robin in Shelburne, Vermont, at a later time. Corbin and Palmer of Shelburne is in charge of private burial arrangements.
