Dorothea McClure was born in Freeport, Pa., the daughter of William and Bertha (Gilson) McClure.
After graduating from Jeanette High School, she graduated from Grove City College and University of Michigan Medical School in 1926 – only one of eight women in the class.
She worked in the Pittsburgh area until 1930 when she became chief pathologist at Clearfield Hospital. She was the only female doctor and pediatrician in the county at the time.
She served as an instructor at Clearfield Hospital School of Nursing, and visited St. Mary’s Hospital as a pathologist from the 40’s into the 60’s.
She served as the only woman on both the national research organization for the study of neoplastic diseases and the Pennsylvania Clinical Pathologists group.
She married Colonel John Pruit Gilmore in 1961. He passed away a year later from a coronary occlusion. From 1930 until her retirement in 1982, she worked tirelessly fighting tumors and establishing good prenatal and pediatric care in the Clearfield Hospital.
Her last years at work were focused on cancer research and cytology. The Association of Clinical Scientists awarded Dr. Gilmore with its “Diploma of Honor” in 1968 for her contributions to clinical science.
She was named Woman of the Year in 1968 by a Clearfield civic organization, and the new laboratory wing at the hospital was dedicated in her honor.
Dr. Gilmore retired after 52 years of service. She resided at 14 N. Front St., in Clearfield. She died in 2002 and is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery, Clearfield.
