Moving Day for Brownie: Her 100th Birthday Party

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Created on Thursday, 23 January 2025 15:20

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By Sentinel Staff
    “Keep moving.”
    That’s the advice of Dorothy “Brownie” Thomsen, who’ll be celebrating her 100th birthday at a party Saturday.
    And it’s also her birthday wish.
    “I want everyone to move around – to socialize, talk to old friends they might not have seen in a long time, make new friends,” she said.

Dorothy “Brownie” Thomsen circa 1947. (Photo Provided)

Dorothy “Brownie” Thomsen celebrates her 99th birthday in 2024. She is celebrating her 100th birthday on Saturday. (Sentinel File Photo)

    She asked the friends who are putting on the party – from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Centennial Hall – to set up just three tables or so to make sure well-wishers aren’t sitting in chairs, talking just to those next to them.
    There was considerable movement at her 99th birthday party, a picnic at Halibut Point Recreation Area, on her actual birthday, January 27. More than 60 friends showed up, she said. “I think everyone enjoyed being outside.”
    That suited Brownie – she’s spent much of her time outdoors since arriving in Sitka in 1949 as a nurse working with tuberculosis patients at Mt. Edgecumbe Hospital. Born and raised in Iowa, she had received an R.N. diploma in a three-year wartime training program through the U.S. Cadet Corps. (She also received her nickname while training: there was another Dorothy on the softball team so since her maiden name was Bronsema she became “Brownie.”)
    After seven years at Edgecumbe she moved to the just-opened Sitka Community Hospital, where she did many jobs, including serving as the hospital administrator.
    In the 1950s and ’60s, before Sitka had a veterinarian, she also was known around town for treating dogs – giving tetanus shots, diagnosing ailments, casting broken legs, doing some surgery.
    In 1969 she became office nurse at Dr. Phil Moore’s clinic, retiring in 1988.
    Throughout the years she’s spent lots of time outdoors – fishing, boating (she’s owned four boats), gardening, gathering and preparing food, traveling, skiing, hiking, camping.
    She was a longtime member of Sitka’s State Park Advisory Board, and when the park lost state funding in 2015, she did maintenance herself, cleaning up litter and organizing volunteers doing repairs and other chores.
    As a volunteer for the Chichagof Forest Service program she cooked over an oil stove at a camp; and she cooked and crewed a boat for Jack Calvin, a founding member of the Sitka Conservation Society.
     She’s gathered some health issues over the years, too. A few years ago she stumbled while carrying weeds and grass to the highway and fell to her knees. “I wasn’t acting my age,” she said, laughing.
    Her left leg is bothering her, and she’s now using a walker and needs to stay on level ground. A physical therapist comes to her home twice a week, a nurse once a week.
    One activity has stayed strong, though – her social life. Friends, including ones from Brave Heart Volunteers, visit regularly, with food, conversation and games. Brownie loves all kinds of games, board games, card games, dice games, Backgammon, Uno.
    A favorite is cribbage, which she’s played since her dad taught her. “I love it,” she said.
    Another longtime joy is living along the shore, in the 3500 block of Halibut Point Road, where she can keep an eye on what’s moving in Sitka’s outdoors.
    “The whales are back – I saw two this week,” she said Friday. “Maybe the herring will be early.”