This picture was taken around 1963 when Dorfie was 88. He was 96 when he died. Dorfie was a double cousin to my grandmother Sudie, his father John William Kauffman was Ellen Virginia Kauffman Rickard's sister; his mother Joanna Rebecca Rickard was the niece of my great-grandfather Isaac Newton Rickard.
When I was in the 7th grade and became interested in rock collecting, Sudie put Dorfie in touch with me. He sent me many samples of the rocks around Luray, Virginia and wrote me often. Dorfie was a practicing Optometrist from 1899-1963, a jeweler, a rock hound, and a Deacon in the Primitive Baptist Church. When we visited him back in 1963, he was a little unsure of who I was and mistook my father for my grandfather. He reminisced with Dad about the early days in Kansas and Virginia. Dad said afterwards that his mind was sharp as a tack on those days and he had learned a lot he had never known before
Ressie was Dorfie's second wife. I have ancestors in common with her through the Beaver and Brubaker lines. She told me how Dorfie got his name: his mother Joanna Rickard Kauffman was babysitting with some children and read them a story about dwarfs. One of the kids exclaimed "Oooh! Soon you will have a little Dorfie of your own!"
