Dorothy Karamanyan

Dorothy Katherine Mani was born in Burbank, Calif., April 21, 1927. Her parents, John and Bertha (Gertsch) Mani, had immigrated from Bern, Switzerland, with their parents.

The youngest of four children, she and her siblings, Jack, Helen and Eddie, lost their beloved father when Dorothy was only 18 months old. The family then moved to Idaho to live with her maternal grandmother. Her mother later remarried and had two more children, Marjorie and Robert, whom Dorothy helped to raise as a young girl. The 1930s brought a tumultuous childhood, and the family moved often to find work in Utah and Idaho. Later, Dorothy and her older siblings went to live in California in hopes of finding more stability.

Once she was grown, Dorothy went to work in the garment industry in Los Angeles. She was a skilled seamstress and put her love of sewing to work in numerous industries, including the garment industry, the airplane industry and later her and Zaven’s upholstery shop. She loved all the various fabrics and loved to browse through the various swatch books and show anyone who was interested her favorite new fabrics that had recently come in.

After the war, Dorothy met and married Joe Shepherd, her brother Jack’s friend from the war, in 1947. Joe and Dorothy lived in the San Fernando Valley and raised their family there. They had two children, Trina, who was born in 1948, and Mark, who was born in 1949. Dorothy became an accomplished cook, expert seamstress and loving mother. The family enjoyed camping with friends and relatives along the California coast and along the Kern River. In the 1950s, they met their Granada Hills neighbors, Travers and Virgina LaRue, and their daughters, Denise and Michele, and became fast friends. Years later, the LaRues would tell them about a place called Whidbey Island. It was Virginia who told Dorothy about lots on Whidbey Island she could buy cheap, and she bought a lot, sight unseen, paying $24 a month toward it for a number of years.

In the late 1960s, Dorothy was single again and met an interesting Armenian man, Zaven, who shared her sewing background as an upholsterer. She loved to tell the story about how they met in Paradise. It was actually the name of the upholstery shop they met in and she loved to recount that meeting.

At the time, she was then working for Lockheed, where she had worked on the upholstery of Air Force One for then-president Ronald Reagan. She told Zaven that the next time she was laid off, they would go see her lot on Whidbey Island. Two months later, they took the leap and Dorothy and Zaven, along with their dog DeeDee, packed up and moved to Langley, where they were greeted by an early snowstorm. It was Nov. 3, 1973.

Once they got to Whidbey, they fell in love with island life. Zaven thought it reminded him of Istanbul, with the ocean, ferries and climate. They decided to settle down and opened up an upholstery shop off the alley between First and Second streets, in the Rear Building, where the Commons sits today, and they lived on Goodell Lane. Oil for their stove was then 13 cents a gallon and the rent was $140 a month. They later bought property from neighbors Ansel and Evelyn Goodell and built a home. Salmon was plentiful and Zaven was an excellent fisherman, so there was always something to enjoy. Camping and clamming with friends on the Washington and Canadian coasts was a favorite pastime in the ’70s and ’80s. She loved to remind many of us that “I’m a California girl” and was happiest by the water. She was lucky enough to enough to enjoy two trips to Hawaii in her 70s and loved the Big Island.

Dorothy and Zaven built their business up over the next 15 years, some of which were lean, but they always thought that if it didn’t work, they could “head to town and work.” Thankfully, though, they never had to do that. Dorothy was always happy that she didn’t have to leave her island home and was able to make her life here with Zaven.

They worked very hard, and their shop, Karaman Upholstery, became known for its quality work and affordable prices on the island. Dorothy did all the sewing. She was an excellent pillow maker — Zaven notes that “customers will miss her.” They made many friends over the years on the island. In the early ’80s, they loaded up their camper and drove to Alaska on the Alcan Highway. The Milepost Guidebook they used apparently neglected to stress that late April would not be warm camping weather in British Columbia, so it was a shock to see snow, frozen lakes and “closed for winter” signs along the way. What an adventure it was to finally reach Anchorage.

While she was happy sewing away, Dorothy was happiest cooking, baking and working around the house. She was an excellent canner and loved canning fresh fruits, vegetables and even fish. As noted before, Zaven was quite the fisherman and they had a deal: she would clean salmon and he would clean cod. Dorothy was a tireless cook and baker and very proud of her Swiss heritage. She especially enjoyed making Swiss Bratzilies on her cookie iron at Christmas and giving the finished product to all her friends. Even her bouts with illness couldn’t slow her down in the kitchen, and she continued to enjoy her daily tea time with her niece, Mona.

While she always had such a positive outlook on life, she was also tough. If she wanted something a certain way, she would ask for it and stick to it. She also didn’t let anyone step on her. She knew her value and stuck to her guns on issues such as working conditions and wages. She was strong and would never allow herself or anyone she loved and cared about to sell themselves short.

She loved children, and many of the kids on the island, including Sean, Ryan, Angelina, Hagop, Katya and Amara will miss her. She was a patient teacher and loved to share her sewing, cooking and canning skills with others. She also loved her dogs — and loved to tell stories about Deedee, Kurt, Choochoonim, Toby, Little Bit and Breezy.

Not only will we miss her wonderful talents, but we will all miss Dorothy for her generous spirit, kind personality and gracious dignity. We’ll miss her stories and the way she was always so happy, patient and appreciative of anything and everything in life.

Many thanks, especially to Enso House, who cared for her in her final days.