Laverna "Verna" Katie Dollimore (January 22, 1922 – October 24, 2011) was one of six Canadians awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

for her participation in the Canadian Caper, in which the Canadian government and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

orchestrated the cover rescue of six American diplomats in Iran (1979). Her Order of Canada Medal is on display at the

Maritime Command Museum The Naval Museum of Halifax (formerly Admiralty House and Maritime Command Museum) is a Canadian Forces museum located at CFB Halifax in the former official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the North America Station (1819–1905). Also kno ...

. Laverna Katie Dollimore was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on 22 January 1922. Her parents, William Dollimore and Eva Somner, emigrated to Canada in 1915 on the penultimate voyage of the

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' (named after the Roman province in Western Europe corresponding to modern Portugal) was a British ocean liner that was launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 and that held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlanti ...

. Dollimore was the youngest of three children, preceded by brother, Hedley, and sister, Neysa. She attended Oakwood Collegiate High School and then Western Technical Commercial School for business, graduating in 1938. For five years she did secretarial or bookkeeping jobs for companies in Toronto including, Jenny Lind Candy Shops and Dominion Paper Box Co. In 1942 she joined the

Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service The Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS or "Wrens") was an element of the Royal Canadian Navy that was active during the Second World War and post-war as part of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve until unification in 1968.http://esask.ureg ...

and was posted to

HMCS Cornwallis Canadian Forces Base Cornwallis (also CFB Cornwallis) is a former Canadian Forces Base located in Deep Brook, Nova Scotia. It is situated in the western part of Annapolis County on the southern shore of the Annapolis Basin. Today most of the ba ...

in Halifax. Despite taking the Petty Officer exam, the war concluded before Dollimore could follow that path and she returned to Toronto to continue in her previous line of work. In 1956, she took the public service exam and joined the Department of External Affairs. Dollimore worked in a number of Canadian embassies, such as Cairo, following the Suez Crisis, Poland, Kuala Lumpur, Leopoldville (now

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, DRC), and many others. During her time she worked for notable members of the diplomatic corps, including: Robert Ford, G. Hamilton Southam, Charles Ritchie, Paul Martin Sr. She joined the

International Commission for Supervision and Control The International Control Commission (ICC), or in French la Commission Internationale de Contrôle (CIC), was an international force established in 1954. More formally called the International Commission for Supervision and Control, the organisati ...

, under Percy Stewart Cooper in Laos in 1969. For her services there she received the

Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal The Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal (french: Médaille canadienne du maintien de la paix) is a campaign medal created October 21, 1999 to recognize the contributions of all Canadian Peacekeeping, Peacekeepers towards the ultimate goal of peace, ...

. Dollimore's most notable posting came in 1977, when she joined the Canadian embassy in Tehran, just ahead of the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

. There, she was the personal secretary to Kenneth Taylor and assisted in the 'Canadian Caper'. Despite being given the option to leave Tehran in 1979, Dollimore remained until 1980 and, along with Roger Lucy, Ken Taylor, Sgt. Claude Gauthier, was one of the last Canadian's to leave the embassy in Tehran. For her service, she received the Order of Canada. For the remainder of her time with Foreign Affairs, Dollimore was posted to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She retired in 1983 to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, Ontario. Every five years she attended a 'Canadian Caper' reunion, hosting the 2005 party. She died of natural causes in 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dollimore, Laverna Katie Members of the Order of Canada 1922 births 2011 deaths People from Toronto Secretaries Canadian women in World War II Canadian expatriates in Egypt Canadian expatriates in Poland Canadian expatriates in Malaysia Canadian expatriates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Canadian expatriates in Laos Canadian expatriates in Iran Expatriates in Ethiopia