September 26, 1921 – April 20, 2021

– Mary And Fil Sailing in San Francisco Bay –

Mary Dorland passed away peacefully at Atria Senior Living in Reno, NV on April 20, 2021 of natural causes surrounded by her daughter Deborah Dorland Selak, and her husband Paul Selak, and son Greg Dorland and his wife Debra Macrorie. Her grandson, Ken Scott, wife Sharon Scott and Great Granddaughter Roen Scott had traveled up from Los Angeles to spend several days with her the week before. Mary was 99, just five months shy of her goal of 100 years! Mary was predeceased by her husband of 67 years Filson Arthur Dorland on August 18, 2012.

Mary Magni was born in Oakland, CA with her early years spent in Oakdale, CA. Her parents and five older sisters had immigrated from Piemonte in northwest Italy. Mary never learned to speak Italian as her mother forbade speaking it in the house insisting that the girls speak only English and assimilate into their new country. Mary met Filson when he returned from flying gliders in the war and after a whirlwind romance up and down California (at one point the convertible top blew off the car they were driving and they just kept going hoping for sunny weather!) they were married on July 17, 1945.

Mary and Filson moved to South Lake Tahoe from Orinda, CA in 1957 where they raised their two children in all of the splendor of the “Lake in the Sky.” Filson was a building contractor building many of the motels along highway 50 and spec and custom homes around the lake including a massive home on the beach in Incline Village, NV for the owner of Heavenly Valley, Kris Kurisa, costing a whopping $250,000! Life was not always easy in the mountains in those days but the family enjoyed skiing in the winter and boating in the summer together. As time went on and the kids went off to college Mary and Fil often wintered in Mexico out of the cold and eventually relocated to the Palm Desert area along with many of their contemporaries from Tahoe. Nearing death dad related to me, “I think your mother and I lived in the best of times…”

Mary was an upbeat soul captivating everyone around her, particularly in her later years with the staff at Atria who loved her glass half full outlook on life, didn’t complain, and joked around with everyone. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her… A private ceremony will be held for Mary this summer on the waters of Lake Tahoe. She will be buried alongside Filson, the love of her life, at Trails End cemetery in Tahoe City.