Born September 8, 1929 in Manhattan, New York and died February 8, 2017 at her residence in Haymarket Va.
Dorothy Helen Bologna lived her life with principled passionate purpose and taught all those who came within her circle of life those same core values. Dorothy’s foundation was firmly established in this order; faith and trust in our Creator and his Son Jesus Christ, love and commitment to family and investment in the friends who always seemed to be drawn to her.
As her son, I learned by her life lived. Dorothy lived a God centered life being part of the community of believers wherever she was and used her faith as the plumb line for her choices and decisions. Her commitment to family was easily seen as a devoted wife to my father through all times, sickness and health, poverty and abundance and through every struggle viewed as an opportunity of challenge to overcome together. Dorothy loved her family with loose fingers, preparing each one of us to embrace life and be self sufficient while always being prepared to wrap you in her caring arms telling you “you can do it, you can overcome, there is a solution”. Dorothy didn’t dilute the truth, a truth defined by her solid faith, speaking words sometimes hard to hear but words we needed to hear, all the while speaking firmly but with love. Tough love that holds the bar to live by, embraces the knowledge that we learn through failure and forgiveness without abandoning her core values.
Dorothy passionately lived her life establishing friendships wherever she went and in whatever she did. To know Dorothy was to be her friend; she never met a stranger. Ever the competitor, she was a force to be reckoned with on the tennis court, ping pong table and many other athletic endeavors. She made lifelong friends playing cards, crabbing or clamming or any other activity that involved people. Simply put, she loved people and loved to laugh with them as easily as she was willing to cry with them.
Now, as a man with family of my own, I look on a life that, while it had human fragilities, was a life well lived and one to look up to with admiration. All four of her children as well as many grandchildren are successful in their own families and careers as a testament to her principled passionate purpose for life being emulated down through her generations. I know that she is now with her Creator enjoying the company of all her family that went before her. She lived a life true to her values based on her belief in God, and in good times or bad she passionately lived.
