Dorothy Fletcher

Dorothy Woodham Fletcher (formerly King, née Graham; 25 July 1927 – 10 August 2017) was a New Zealand historian.

Biography Fletcher was born in 1927 to Alec and Louisa Lydia Graham, part-owners of Franz Josef Glacier Hotel at Franz Josef. Her parents had met in England during World War I; her mother was English and her father from South Westland. Fletcher grew up in Franz Josef, and went to boarding school in Christchurch at Rangi Ruru Girls' School. When World War II broke out, she returned to Franz Josef and helped her family run the hotel until they decided to sell the business in 1947.

Recognition In 2017, a tuatara on public display at Franz Josef was named Dorothy in honour of Fletcher.

Personal life Fletcher was married twice. In 1959 she married Peter King, an Englishman who emigrated to New Zealand and became a park ranger at Westland National Park. The couple had two children together, however King was killed in a car accident in 1962, days after the birth of their second child. In 1973, Fletcher married Peter Fletcher, chief ranger at Westland National Park. He died in 1977 on the Copland Pass.