Women with accordions scared me

Murv and Dorothy Thom

Women with accordions scared me

I am a Grandpa now – in my 70^th year. I have Grandkids that are now in High School. And that is where my story starts concerning Dorothy Thom.

In 1969 when I moved to Oakville with my wife and daughter I had a history of not liking church or church people. In fact I had a genuine dislike for people like that. That dislike was based on past experiences with weird people that attended churches… and I had met plenty of them as a boy growing up. To say I was turned off would put it mildly.

In High School there were cool kids and athletic kids.  There were the academic and geek kind of kids.  Then there were the kind of normal ones, ordinary kids that were in the middle.  I was one of the ordinary… shy and never one to stand out.

One day some of my friends asked me to come with them to one of the class rooms for a meeting sponsored by a Christian Group.  With my strong Christian heritage I agreed to take a look as to what might be happening in the room.  I might have been “ordinary” but the last thing I wanted was to have some of my “cool friends” see me with religious nuts.

As we walked through the door there was the older lady that was leading sitting in the middle with an accordion… which she was about to begin playing.  She pulled the accordion wide open and then with the first strains of sound coming from it she broke into a loud and long Christian song… that filled the room and flooded the hallways… with all the cool kids looking at the lady inside.

I nearly died of embarrassment at that moment.  The lady sitting there had a dress on and had never ever shaved her legs!  “Oh God let me out of here now” – I whispered to myself.

As a teenager and then later as an adult that lady was kind of the focus of my escape from religious nutcases.  And every time I heard an accordion play I wanted to run.  Bad memories of people playing accordions to say the least.

In 1969 the image of the hairy legged, older lady playing that accordion had not left me.

When I walked into Evangel Pentecostal Church as a very turned off young man, with his wife and little girl a man greeted me at the door.  His name was Murv Thom.  The music was familiar from old days of my attending church.  People were friendly and loved me the way I was.

Then go figure… what happened next.  A lady came forward to do a special number with her friend.  She walked over to the front pew and picked up her accordion… and my mouth dropped open.  Murv later told me that the lady was his wife Dorothy.

I learned to love the accordion – because Dorothy loved us. She and Murv became like parents to Alida and me. They loved us all the time.  There are many, many stories to tell.

On November 2, Alida and I stopped to see our friend Dorothy one last time.  I asked her that day if she was still playing her accordion, “She grinned and said, not anymore, it is too heavy…” We had prayer together and will always remember that day of blessing.

Thanks to the Thom kids for sharing Dorothy and Murv with us.  We loved you all.

Thom: Dorothy Isabel (nee Green)

In His time the Lord called into glory Dorothy Isabel Thom in her 88^th year on Thursday, November 21, 2013. Dorothy was pre deceased by her loving husband Murville and her brother Jim Green.  She is survived by brother Rev Richard Green (Wanda). Continuing on with her memories are daughters Wendy, Brenda, Gwen ,Dodie (Eric), and son Tim (Candy).  She will be dearly missed by her grandchildren Becky, Graydon, Cheri Ann, Brandon (Allison), Lauren (Bob), Ryan, Chanelle and Michael.
Dorothy was a credential holder in the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada for many years and dedicated her life to her ministry and family. Dorothy and her husband Murville are one of the original founders of Evangel Pentecostal Church in Oakville.  Dorothy continued to play an active roll in the church as the pianist, teaching Sunday school and a member of the choir. During her retirement years she ministered to the senior community, visiting retirement homes conducting services, singing and playing her accordion. Visitation will take place at the Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home, 64 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville (one block east of Kerr, 905-844-2600) from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Friday, November 22, 2013. Funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, November 23, 2013 at the Evangel Pentecostal Church, 1450 Rebecca St., Oakville. Interment at Trafalgar Lawn Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital or the Alzheimer’s Society. Condolences throughwww.koprivataylor.com