February 20, 1945 – June 10, 2025

Lynne Ann Dover, 80, of Nevada City, passed away peacefully at her home of 52 years in Peaceful Valley, surrounded by family.

Born in Berkeley, California, on February 20, 1945, she was the daughter of Quaker peace activists Russ and Mary Jorgensen. Lynne attended Scattergood Friends School, a Quaker boarding school in Iowa, and later became the first and only white female student at the University of East Africa Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania. Her experience there came full circle when, upon returning to the U.S., UC Berkeley initially denied her academic credits for her two years of African Studies—until the head of the African Studies department realized her professor in Tanzania had authored the very textbook they used.

Her path led her to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, where she trained and worked as a massage therapist. There she met her first husband, J. Stanley “Stan” Johnson Jr., a physician exploring alternative medicine. Their son Shane was born in 1971 in a little house nestled below Nepenthe. In 1973, Lynne and her young family moved to Nevada City and purchased the land now known as Peaceful Valley from the Brown family—who was leaving Nevada County after over 100 years because it was getting too crowded! Originally envisioned as a farm, Lynne and Stan invited Amigo Bob Cantisano to live on Peaceful Valley and farm the land. While the local microclimate challenged that dream, from it Amigo Bob nonetheless started Peaceful Valley Farm Supply.

After Stan’s untimely death in 1979, Lynne and Shane returned to Big Sur. Once again at Esalen, Lynne met her second husband, Al, who moved from Tucson to join her back at Peaceful Valley. The couple married in 1981 at the Miner’s Foundry in Nevada City. Her father Russ, though jailed that weekend for participating in a protest, was granted leave by a familiar judge to walk his daughter down the aisle.

Al’s gift to Lynne was teaching his hard-working wife to “HH”, hire help! Lynne ran the ranch, was a massage and craniosacral therapist, Tai Chi instructor, Rolf Movement teacher, and served as the first volunteer coordinator for Hospice of the Foothills. Lynne leaned in by listening, connecting deeply, and helping others.

Lynne and Al were fortunate to travel the world together, experiencing cultures and landscapes that enriched their shared life. Lynne loved nature and the mountains, grew up backpacking in the High Sierra, climbed Kilimanjaro, and was never more at peace than sitting on a mountaintop taking in the views.

She is survived by her husband Al Dover, son Shane Johnson, daughter-in-law Meredith, and granddaughters Madeline and Cameron, as well as her three Jorgensen brothers Eric, Mark, and Paul.

The family is extremely grateful for the support of our private caregivers, Charmaine Dudevoir, Jill Hochwald, and Pabby Bennett, as well as the caring staff at Brunswick Village that allowed for a period of respite care, and our family and friends, too numerous to name, that were ever caring and helpful.

In honor of Lynne’s generous and earth-loving spirit, and if you are so inclined, donations may be made in her memory, to any charity that supports people and/or the environment.

“To know her was to love her, And we’ll love but her forever, For nature made her what she was, And will never make another.” Burns