March 29,1919 – January 12, 2013
Resident of Santa Cruz
Arlene Dorn Trowbridge went to be with her Lord January 12, 2013, at the age of 93, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born in Oakland California on March 29, 1919 to Ralph and Clara Ryan. Arlene was the great granddaughter of Irish immigrants who married in St. Michaels Cathedral, Limerick, Ireland in the 1840’s. Her father Ralph was an inventor and machine shop owner in Oakland California.
Arlene attended Asbury College in Wilmore Kentucky for one year before marrying Robert Henry Dorn and raising a family. She returned to college in her 40’s and was graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1968. Except for short periods in New York State and in Chowchilla California, Arlene has lived in the Santa Cruz area since 1938. She has been a member of the High Street Community Church for many years and was one of the three women who initiated the Habitat for Humanity program in Santa Cruz County.
After receiving her teaching credential from San Jose State in 1969, Arlene taught elementary school in Watsonville. While pursuing a master’s degree in Mexico, Arlene was instrumental in starting the Bi-National Program to enable children of migrant farm workers to maintain continuous schooling in the US and Mexico which is in practice in Mexico and many states in the U.S. today. In recognition, Arlene received the highest award the Mexican Government can bestow on a foreigner in 1997.
Arlene is survived by her three daughters, Mary Louise Young (Wayne), Merilyn Smith (Mike), Joy Claire Kilner (Doug) and son, Robert Jay Dorn (Linda), nine grandchildren, and twenty two great grandchildren. She is predeceased by her son, Meade Ralph Dorn, and by her husbands, the late Robert Dorn, the father of her children, and the late Col. Frank H. Trowbridge. She is also survived by her brother-in-law and close friend, Roy Trowbridge.
To send your condolences to Mrs. Trowbridge’s family, share your memories, view or post photos, light a candle in her memory, please visit www.scmemorial.com