Dorothy "Dodie" Parker Greaney

In loving memory of Dorothy Parker Greaney, who was born in 1924 in Belfast, Maine as the second of the five Richardson children. She passed peacefully on January 25, 2018. Loving Mother of Nicholas, Bennett, Samuel, Alexander, and Seth Waugh; stepmother of Cheryl and Marc Greaney; cherished grandmother of 12.

Known affectionately as Dodie throughout her life, she was an excellent student with a love of the environment and a taste for travel and adventure. As an emphatic member of the "Greatest Generation" she broke the mold early, often, and with great effect.
After graduating from the Kents Hill School, she defied convention by heading off to Barnard College in NYC-a very bold move for a young woman at that time. Once there she honed her Spanish language skills and sharpened her interest in nature and its inhabitants, thereby cementing her two lifetime passions.

Shortly after graduation she married James Waugh, also of Portland, and had her 5 boys over the next 8 years. She enthusiastically threw herself into motherhood as a very involved, passionate, nurturing, and demanding parent. She emphasized education, individuality, and finding and fueling one's passion regardless of where that might lead. She always possessed a keen interest in, and empathy for, all.
As her children grew she also became a Master Naturalist from the Audubon Society. In 1968, when the first expedition of civilians was invited to explore the Galápagos Islands with Roger Tory Peterson, she was one of the very few to get the call. It left a mark on her forever. After that experience she married her love of children and ecology and began teaching at-risk children the fundamentals of the environment. She was particularly fascinated by birds and developed an encyclopedic knowledge from constant study, observation, and trips through North and South America, Europe, and Africa. She later developed a similar interest in insects. Despite her busy life she was always diligent about refining a true fluency in Spanish, her adopted language and culture. Those two parallel passions would continue to intersect and bear fruit throughout her life.

In 1979, she married Robert Greaney, an old friend also from Portland. They raised Marc together from an early age and enjoyed a long and loving marriage full of travel and different homes, until he succumbed to cancer in 2000.

At this point she once again showed her independence and bravery by deciding to make her new home in Brownsville, Texas. She had no roots or connections there but viewed it as the crossroads of her two passions. Given its location on the North/South American flyway and proximity to the Mexican border it offers a feast of constant and interesting bird traffic as well as the Spanish language and culture that she so embraced and adored. Over the past two decades she became a fixture at the Sabal Palms Sanctuary. She taught the environment to countless local children in both Spanish and English while mentoring numerous employees and volunteers. Along the way she gained many friends and admirers while dispensing her well-earned wisdom
and life's lessons. Throughout her life, Dodie remained true to her core; smart, fiercely independent, elegant, thoughtful, interested, interesting, thirsty for knowledge and self-improvement, caring, giving, and New England tough.

She was a mom through and through and a teacher every day of her life both formally and in every interaction. She loved deeply and was loved even more so in return. We are so grateful to have had her in our lives and especially grateful for having had her for so long. She left every room that she entered better and had an impact on every life that she ever touched. She did it her way every day and did so all the way to the finish line. Until her last moment she was healthy, happy, at peace, and still looking forward.

We will miss you Mom, more than we ever could have told you on earth. Rest In Peace; you've earned it.

A memorial event will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 18, 2018, at Sabal Palms Sanctuary, 8435 Sabal Palm Rd., Brownsville, Texas, 78521. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Sabal Palms Sanctuary: http://sabalpalmsanctuary.org.

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