Torrance Dunbar

September 21, 1978-August 10, 2020

Torrance McDonnell Dunbar passed away at home in Somerville, Massachusetts on August 10, 2020.

Torrance was born in San Francisco, California in 1978 to Patricia Givin Dunbar and the late Donald J. McDonnell; Torrance is known for her warm smile and happy demeanor and infectious laughter. Torrance is a movie and graphic novel aficionado. Providing great customer service is something Torrance is a natural at. She also worked at Diesel Café in Davis Square where she was part of a TV pilot that was filmed there.

Tory moved to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1982; moved to Portland Oregon in 2000; and attended Portland State University. She returned to the Boston area in 2005 and graduated from University of Massachusetts, was hired by the Cambridge Public Library. She was promoted to Assistant Manager, Borrower Services in 2017. Torrance met her partner, the late Corey Girard at the library and they shared a home with their beloved orange cat, Bartholomeow.  Prior to coming to Cambridge, she worked for Powell's Bookstore in Portland Oregon at a café. While at the library Torrance had been working on a degree in Women's Studies. One of her favorite places was Fleur de Lis a camp in New Hampshire. She began there when she was eight years old, spent many years as a camper, several as a CT and finally as a counselor.

Torrance had a smile that lit rooms, an infectious laugh that could be heard from afar, a wonderful and witty sense of humor that could leave even the most serious of us, doubled over. She had impeccable taste in music and shoes and books. She loved to get her dance on. She loved cats more than most things on earth and had some of the most ridiculous feline fashions ever found. She was smart as smart can be. She was a fierce activist, and she never took BS from anybody. You always knew where you stood with Torrance. She was a loyal friend and hard worker. She listened intently and really tried to understand other people's perspectives. Torrance was loving and kind and known for always trying to make people feel welcomed.

The world shines a little less brightly now. To say that she will be missed is a gross understatement.

She is survived by her mother, Patricia Girvin Dunbar, her aunt Jennifer Larner                                                                             Girvin, a predeceased uncle Richard Torrance Girvin; and her cousins Heather Girvin (Michael) Crane, and Carrie Girvin and Matt Smith.

A memorial service was held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Brookline on September 21, 2020, what would have been her forty-second birthday.