Dottie Roper
After 8 years in a Care Home Dottie passed away peacefully on 21st November 2025.
Whilst being born and raised in London, Dottie met Brian there and they were married in Beckenham in 1955. They moved to Port Navas in 1968 after living and working in Kent, Sussex and Bristol.
During this time Dottie showed her amazingly positive attitude to life by embarking on her diverse career opportunities – from a fashion model, running a dog kennel and cattery.
Before moving to Port Navas, Dottie took herself off to Cookery School and this is where she mastered the 10 meals which initially formed the basis of the menus at Pons-a-Verran Hotel. Dottie was the integral part in making Pons-a-Verran such a centre of fun – be it with the village elderly community, raising money for the Constantine Surgery, running the raffle at the Regatta or the legendary Christmas’s and Easter’s we spent with friends and family. Whilst cooking, cleaning and running the hotel Mum was also determined to enjoy the local area and there was more than one occasion that she was running late after a day on the Helford and had to hitch a ride – normally with a young man in a speedboat – to get back to Pons-a-Verran to prepare dinner for the guests.
After 10 years as a hotel, Pons-a-Verran and the Farm next door were converted to holiday apartments. So no longer on hotel duties, Dottie took herself off to learn new skills demonstrating the famous Thermomix and Neff ovens – including to a then Prince Charles at the Royal Cornwall Show. She then worked with Brian at the Seal Sanctuary where she helped develop the gift shop.Who would be able to resist that lovely smile and that cheeky sense of humour at the front of a shop?
Dottie’s positive attitude and zest for life shone through with one of her favourite sayings that “regret is a wasted emotion”.
