Dorothy H.

Siftar

Dotti Siftar, a distinguished nurse who also served as a song leader, performer and teacher for almost 50 years, died at the age of 83 on Dec. 26 at Carleton-Willard Village in Bedford, Mass.

She and her husband, the late Robert Siftar, were natives of Bethlehem, PA, who resided for 47 years in Drexel Hill, PA. where they raised six children. They also had 10 grandchildren.

Dorothy H. Siftar, RNC BS spent a long career in nursing handling positions of authority. She was department head in Psychiatry at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden, N.J., and was Psychiatry Nurse Educator and Clinical Coordinator at Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital, Philadelphia. She also founded and directed The Children's Community, a Montessori school in Pennsylvania, and taught guitar to hundreds of students of all ages.

Dotti's music and recreation leadership legacy spans hundreds of camps, schools, churches, conferences, community groups and professional associations throughout the Northeast. Performing solo or with her husband, Bob, an electrical engineer for 37 years, and often with one of their six children in tow, she led singing, folk dancing, storytelling, games and drama groups with people of all ages and abilities.

Mrs. Siftar began learning and leading in 1957 at the Eastern Cooperative Recreation School, eventually serving on its staff and board. She led 12 tours of Pennsylvania elementary schools for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Pennsylvania Arts and Education Council. At Geneva Point Center (GPC) in New Hampshire, she became a tenured faculty member of the Northern New England School of Religious Education, and an instructor at Elderhostels, Camp Carole (a camp for children with cancer) and One Parent Family conferences as well as serving on the GPC staff.

In addition, she was recreation director for the Co-Op Institute at Hobart College for several summers and served as Folk Arts Director and Associate Camp Director at Camp Rock Runn. She and Bob also were on the staff of Creative Arts Camps in Pennsylvania and New York, The Northfield Conference and The National Rec Labs.

Her abiding love was singing, and she lived by the musical motto, "Hallelujah Anyhow!"

She is survived by her six children and ten grandchildren, Beth and her husband Simon Alciere and their daughter, Eva, of Amherst, Mass. Sue and her husband Paul DiTucci and their children Allie and Melissa of Topsfield, Mass., Bob and his wife Kate and their children, Roland, Lucas and Brianna of Fairbanks, Alaska, Barb of Medford, Mass., Tim and his wife, Myriam and their children Carmen and Roxanne of Philadelphia, Penn. and Julie and her husband, Dan Nicholson and their children, Celia and Sonia of Stow, Mass.

Her children have included the following invitation to a "Celebration for the life of Dotti Siftar."

A celebration service will be held on Saturday, February 12, 2011 at 11:30 A.M. at The Congregational Church of Topsfield, 9 East Common St., Topsfield, Mass. Following the service we will gather in the Fellowship Hall of the Emerson Center, across the Common. We will push back the tables and "dance the dance" in true Dotti style. For all who would like to make a day of it, we will then move next door to the historic Gould Barn for singing, stories and more. We will be glad to see you there.
For those unable to join us in New England, we are planning a service in the Philadelphia area in the spring.

Memorial gifts in honor of Dotti Siftar can be made to: Geneva Point Center, 108 Geneva Point Rd., Moultonborough, NH 03254. Gifts will be used to support the upkeep of the beloved barn and the Siftar Cottage & Playground unless otherwise designated.

Friends are offering tributes for Dotti's multifaceted and inspiring work.

Tom Weston Jr.: "Dotti taught us songs to sing and dances to dance and games to play. She has taught us to play fair and give everyone a chance to be in the middle. She has taught us to watch out for the little ones. She taught us to sing out with joy, but not so loud as to not hear the voices around you. She taught us that with a smile on your face, a story in your mind, a song on your lips and a prayer in your heart, you are ready for whatever the world can throw at you. And her example of simply living her life challenges us all to be better."

Bill Milford: "She lived by example that the ordinary is transformed to the extraordinary if we can bring passion to it – whether it is a song, dance, game, relationship, or community. So, amidst our grief, let's also make this a day of thanksgiving."

Nancy Ramsden composed an Ode to a Special Lady – Dotti Siftar, part of which went: "For me Dotti was very special./She represented joy and love and energy./Her music invoked life, love and laughter./When she walked into a room the room lit up with energy. "