CORNER BROOK — Since her death in September, there has been no shortage of accolades for the kind of life Tina Dolter lived and what she meant to her community.
The latest honour bestowed upon the talented artist and avid volunteer was actually in the works before she died from a brief illness.
On Friday, Mrs. Dolter was posthumously awarded a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her work as a professional artist, as an advocate for other artists and for her tireless efforts into many other civic-minded causes.
The medal was presented to Mrs. Dolter’s family by Gerry Byrne, the Liberal Commons member for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte who had nominated her as a recipient and who found out just days before her death that her nomination had been endorsed.
During 2012, the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’ II’s accession to the throne, 60,000 medals have been distributed to deserving Canadians in honour of their significant contributions and achievements.
Byrne said Mrs. Dolter was someone “who provided incredible value to our community” and went above and beyond what was expected of her. He thought the Christmas season would be the best time to present the gift of this award to her family.
Twenty members of Mrs. Dolter’s family were on hand for the presentation Friday. It was accepted by her husband Jerry George, her son Devan Burry and her mother Ina Dolter
They said the recognition helped make the family’s first Christmas without her a little easier.
“We wanted to wait until Devan got home from university in British Columbia so we could bring all the family together to do this,” said George. “It’s wonderful to do it at this time because it has been a rough Christmas.”
Burry, a visual arts graduate now pursuing a masters degree in architecture at the University of British Columbia, said his mother would have been humbled by all the kind words people have said about her in the last four months. She would be overwhelmed, he added, at being named a recipient of a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
“She wouldn’t think that she deserved it, but she definitely did.”
