Dorothy W. ‘Skip’ Probert

Dorothy W. “Skip” Probert, 82, a resident of Stratford for much of her life, died May 9 at the Connecticut Hospice in Branford.

Mrs Probert was born November 17, 1921, in Ridgeway, Penn., the daughter of the late William Edward and Marie Genevieve (Ticknor) Wittman, and lived in Pittsburgh until she graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1944.

She moved to Bridgeport, where she met and married her husband, the late Lionel William Probert. She began her career as a psychiatric social worker in 1962 at Catholic Family & Community Services, Bridgeport.

In 1967 she earned her MSW from Fordham University. In 1969 she turned her talents to school social work at the Trumbull Board of Education, and then the Bridgeport School System until her retirement in 1999. She was recognized in the Who’s Who of American Women, 12th Edition (1981-82). She was a diplomat of the American Psychotherapy Association, and an active member of NASW, ACSW, Penn State Alumni Association, Greater Bridgeport Retired Teachers Association, Association of Retired Teachers of Connecticut, AARP, and was a volunteer at the Baldwin Center in Stratford, where she assisted with taxes and enjoyed playing bridge.

Survivors include three daughters, Marguerite Moller and her husband Kent of Newtown, Susan Zaveruha and her husband Paul of Oak Harbor, Wash., and Sally Caldarazzo of Oak Brook, Ill.; two sons, William Probert of Stratford, and Thomas Probert of Trumbull; eight grandchildren, Emily and Jillian Moller of Newtown, Deborah Burrus of Lutz, Fla., Cynthia Zaveruha of San Francisco, Calif., Alexander Zaveruha of Oak Harbor, Wash., R.J. Caldarazzo Jr, of Oak Brook, Ill., Lauren Caldarazzo of St Louis, Mo., and Thomas J. Probert of Trumbull.

A memorial mass was held May 12 at Our Lady of Grace Church, 497 Second Hill Lane, Stratford. Cremation and interment were private.

Contributions in her memory may be made to either Connecticut Hospice, 100 Double Beach Road, Branford CT 06450, or to the Baldwin Center, 1000 West Broad Street, Stratford CT 06615.

The Newtown Bee        May 14, 2004