Dorothy Elizabeth Pelletier (née Walsh) passed away of natural causes on April 22, at her home in Sandy Hook.

Born on October 25, 1929, Dorothy was one of ten children in her family. She grew up in Huntington, Conn., and lived in a modest home that gave her the opportunity to develop close bonds with her siblings. Dorothy graduated with high marks from Shelton High School in 1947 and later enrolled in a Bridgeport-area secretarial program. She was a blazingly fast and accurate typist, wowing both friends and family members alike with her ability. Dorothy worked as a secretary at Sandy Hook Elementary and at Newtown Middle School throughout the 1960s and 1970s before earning a position as one of the head secretaries at Fairfield Hills Hospital, where she eventually retired from in the 1990s.

In her youth she was an avid water skier and enjoyed square dancing with her husband and their friends. She was also a self-taught pianist and enjoyed playing and singing Christmas carols with family members across multiple generations. In addition to Christmas music, she also enjoyed songs sung by Bing Crosby, Neil Diamond, The Lemon Sisters, and Tony Orlando. Following her retirement, she developed an insatiable appetite for literature and read a book every day or two for many years. Dorothy was a devout Catholic and was a parishioner at St Rose of Lima Church in Newtown.

Dorothy was known as a very hard-working and caring person to her friends and family. Her grandchildren remember her as being a very literal person who had a penchant for taking things seriously, but that she also had an enormous heart and generous spirit. She had one of those smiles that would light up the room and make you feel as though everything would somehow be alright. Dorothy and her husband, Jim, had many cats throughout their time together and she enjoyed complimenting them all on a daily basis (“Who’s a pretty kitty?” was one of her favorite things to say to them).

Sometime in the mid-2000s, Dorothy developed Alzheimer’s disease and it slowly began to take its toll on her. Rather amazingly, she managed to outlive almost all of her siblings in spite of this and continued to have moments of lucidity right up until the end. Her family is very thankful that they were able to have her around for so long, leaving them with memories that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

Dorothy is survived by her loving husband, P. James Pelletier; their two children, Mark Pelletier and Joyce Pelletier; three grandchildren, Michael Henss, David Henss, and Stephanie Henss; two great-grandchildren, Kyrah Torrez and Tauriel Torrez; and two siblings, Sally Schiffer and Thomas Walsh.

Dorothy’s services were held on April 27, at St Rose in Newtown, and she is buried at St Rose Cemetery.