Dolores Brigham

We are sad to announce the death of Dolores Brigham, near Asheville, NC. She died peacefully early on November 14th. Dolores was born and grew up in Binghamton, NY, where she ranged through the city on horseback as a young woman. Later in life, she lived in Saugerties, NY; Providence, RI; Asheville, NC; Carlisle, PA; and San Marcos, TX. She is survived by her daughters Paula Dedek and Lisa Wolfe, and her son Peter Dedek, and by her beloved Belgian sheepdog Luca. Her husband Emil W. Dedek and her subsequent life partner David Noreika preceded her in death. Dolores began her career as a draftsperson at Link Aviation in Binghamton in the early 1950s, later went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degree in mathematics from Binghamton University, and taught high school math. In 1980, Dolores secured a position as a computer engineer back at Link Aviation working on software for flight simulators. She worked as a computer scientist for the remainder of her career. Dolores was an avid reader, prolific traveler, determined athlete, and expert dog trainer. As a child, Dolores enjoyed fishing with her father and going on adventures with her beloved cousin Susan during summers at Silver Lake, near Montrose, Pennsylvania. As an adult, she was a feminist when few women were. She loved to read both fiction and nonfiction; anything interesting and thought-provoking; although later in life she refused to read fiction written by men. When she was a housewife in the 1950s and 1960s, she read the classics and especially loved the work of somber Russian authors, such as Dostoevsky and Tolstoy. Wishing to escape the drudgery of housewifery, in 1969 she left her children with their father and went to Puerto Rico for an intensive study in Spanish. This summer trip sparked a life-long love of travel. She traveled all over the United States and went on numerous international journeys with her son, Peter, to places as diverse as Italy, Peru, Bosnia, and Morocco. She also was a runner for many years and finished two marathons while in her fifties. Her greatest avocation, however, was her love of training, showing, breeding, and taking her dogs on walks in the woods. Her many extraordinary dogs earned numerous championships and obedience titles, many advanced agility titles, scentwork titles, and Tracking Dog Excellent. She traveled throughout the Eastern United States and Canada to show her dogs and while doing so cultivated life-long friendships with dogs and their handlers throughout the region. In addition to their many achievements, all of her show dogs, mostly Belgian sheepdogs, and basenjis, were beloved family pets and companions. Dolores loved being with her dogs in nature and particularly enjoyed hiking in the Catskills, Adirondacks, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. She was thoughtful, loving, and a good friend. We will miss her. There will be a memorial service at Bella Vista, 55 Piney Mountain Drive, in Asheville on Tuesday, November 26 at 2:00 PM. In lieu of flowers please send donations to Brother Wolf of Asheville at: https://www.bwar.org/ , so they can rebuild their dog shelter and adoption center after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

Dolores Brigham

October 25, 1932 - November 14, 2024