Weekly Genealogy Spotlight — Week 2
January 19, 2026
Dorothy Ramona “Dot” Kolosky (1934–2019)
Born: February 14, 1934 • New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada
Died: December 5, 2019 • Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
This week, I’m sharing the story of my Aunt Dot. She is not just a relative, but a woman whose life reflects resilience, restraint, and the quiet ways family history is carried forward.
Dorothy Ramona Kolosky was born in 1934, during a time when women’s lives were often shaped by expectation rather than choice. At nineteen years old, her marriage was arranged. In 1953, she married a Ukrainian man named Mike Cvetkovich. Their marriage lasted eighteen years and produced no children, but it left lasting emotional and physical scars. Dot later spoke openly about enduring years of mental and physical abuse before finding the strength to leave.
Leaving did not harden her. It clarified her.
Arranged Marriage | Mike Cvetkovich & Dorothy KoloskyDorothy Ramona Kolosky on her wedding day, 1953
Married at nineteen in an arranged marriage, this photograph captures Dot at the beginning of an adult life shaped by obligation and cultural expectation rather than personal choice.
When I finally met my Aunt Dot as an adult, she was elegant and composed, with a softness that came from lived experience rather than ease. Her hair and nails were always immaculate, not for attention, but as an expression of dignity and self-respect.
The moment she saw me walk into her home, she stopped and stared, as if she had seen a ghost. She asked permission to hug me, then held me tightly and told me my resemblance to my mother was uncanny. In that instant, I understood that my mother had never truly left her.
Dot lived in the countryside outside Vancouver, sharing her home for many years with her roommate Marty. The house was modern, open, and filled with art and antiques. There were very few photographs.
Memory lived there quietly.
Dorothy “Dot” Kolosky later in life
After leaving an abusive marriage, Dot rebuilt her life on her own terms. Elegant, composed, and quietly observant, she carried dignity not as display, but as self-possession
The Sculpture: A Connection to My Mother
After walking into the great room, I noticed paintings and antiques everywhere. A massive wall storage cabinet stretched across the room, filled with pieces that felt European and Renaissance in style. The space was tasteful and full of memory, yet there were almost no photographs.
There must have been forty to fifty pieces in the room, but only one stopped me in my tracks.
It was entirely white and appeared to be made of porcelain, with a soft matte finish. The sculpture showed two hands, different in size, holding each other. I stood there for several minutes, unable to look away.
Dot asked which piece was my favourite. I told her it was the hands.
She looked at me and said,
“I have so much art and so many antiques, and you picked the only piece I have that belonged to your mother.”
Dot was also a gifted artist, working primarily in watercolours. Her art reflected the same qualities she carried herself: restraint, patience, and attentiveness. She was an avid gardener, and her love of landscape and balance showed clearly in her work.
Later, she gifted me two of her watercolours.
Watercolour by Dorothy Ramona “Dot” KoloskyThis painting is one of Dot’s own works, which she later gave to me. While the sculpture connected me to my mother, this watercolour connects me to Dot and to how she saw the world and what she chose to pass forward.
What She Left Behind
The sculpture connected me to my mother.
The watercolours connect me to my aunt.
Both were found through instinct, not explanation.