Dorrie is a child of Holocaust survivors and has known about prejudice from a young age.
Dorrie became a high school Economics teacher and married David in 1981. In 1982 David received a fellowship to study at Harvard focusing on allergy. The news reports of gay men dying from a disease affecting the immune system turned their lives around. David knew this would likely be seen at St Vincent’s Hospital, where he was returning, because of its proximity to Oxford Street and Kings Cross.
Dorrie focused on raising their two daughters, Becky and Ilana, while David spent almost every waking minute caring for patients, researching HIV and travelling the world collaborating with others. Dorrie saw the pandemic through David’s eyes for nearly 40 years.
Dorrie later received a Graduate Diploma (with merit) in Computer Education and went on to study Instructional Multimedia. She worked creating computer-based training programs. When David realised she could do his PowerPoint presentations a wonderful collaboration continued right until David’s unexpected passing in 2018.
Dorrie is Patron of the David Cooper Memorial Fund.