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26 September 1939 – 31 May 2024
Former Warkworth retailer Dorothy Goudie passed away quietly at Waikanae Lodge on May 31.
Dorothy’s dress shop in Neville Street was an institution in Warkworth for more than 30 years, attracting customers from all over the North Island.
It started with $3000 worth of stock in a converted garage where Woolworths now stands, before moving further down the road to the premises that Harveys now occupies.
Initially, it stocked a range of dresses, skirts and blouses, as well petticoats, garter belts and stockings, which were all a standard part of any well-dressed woman’s apparel in those days.
The business weathered several economic downturns and Dorothy was always a strong advocate for Warkworth and its business community, joining numerous campaigns to reinvigorate the town centre.
Prior to opening the shop, Dorothy worked for the Warkworth Town Council, based in the Warkworth Town Hall, when Harry Bioletti was chair.
Her most vivid memory of those days was the annual calculation of rates, which was all done by hand and each rate demand was typed up individually.
In an interview with Mahurangi Matters in 2012, she recalled that her job included registering anyone who moved to the area, who had been born overseas, as “an alien”.
“Most of what we did was fairly routine,” she recalled. “But I do remember us getting a letter from Internal Affairs in Wellington asking us to turn in our guns. According to their records, Warkworth had been issued with rifles and hard hats during the war for the purpose of defending the bridge.
“The letter informed us that Wellington wanted them back. Of course, no-one had an inkling where any of this equipment was, so we just wrote back telling them that they were welcome to come and search the town. Needless to say, we never heard any more about it.”
Dorothy’s dress shop closed when she finally retired in 2017, aged 78.
Dorothy is survived by her two children, Jane Embury and Paul Goudie.
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Memorial Service
DOROTHY (DOT) ROSE GOUDIE
Passed away peacefully on Friday 31st May, aged 84, at Waikanae Lodge, in Waikanae. She was a long standing local from the Warkworth region having moved to Kaipara Flats from Whakatane in 1964. She moved into Warkworth in 1976. Dot, was best known for her women’s wear shop called Dorothy’s, in Neville St, Warkworth, which she ran from 1984 to 2017. She will be missed by her family and remembered by many people.
The memorial will be held at the Warkworth Bowling Club, on Mill Lane, in Warkworth, on Saturday 3rd August at 2pm.” Please join us to remember an amazing Mum, Nana, Aunt, friend, and business woman.
