Donnelly, Dorothy Marie, born September 2, 1925 passed away December 9, 2013 at the age of 88. She died while recuperating in the hospital. Her husband Bill and son Richard were with her. Dorothy, known to friends as "Dot" is survived by her husband of 68 years, William J. Donnelly Sr., her two Sons, William J. Donnelly Jr. and Richard C. Donnelly, daughters in law Becky Donnelly and Joscylen Donnelly, three grandchildren, Jane Donnelly, Christine Donnelly and Brian J. Donnelly. She was also blessed with 2 great grandchildren.

Dot was born in Pittsburgh, PA and was the only child of Claude and Marie Welch. She grew up in Sewickley Heights and graduated from Sewickley High School. She met her husband Bill while out at a roller rink. It was during "Ladies Choices" that Dot asked Bill to skate with her. After graduation Dot went to business college but she soon got a fateful letter from Bill. He was in Sacramento, CA in the Army Air Corp and soon to be deployed overseas. He asked her to marry him and the next thing she knew she was on a long train ride to Sacramento. They were married September 1st 1945 and after a short honeymoon lived in Del Paso Heights. Shortly thereafter Bill was stationed on Ascension Island, a 25 square mile rock midway between Africa and South America and Dot returned to Pittsburgh.

After the war Bill returned to Pittsburgh and the happy couple moved to Crafton Heights where he worked for McMillian and Baer. Son, William James, arrived in 1949 followed by Richard in 1952. In 1954 Bill began working with Desoto, a division of Chrysler Corporation, and the family moved to Niles Ohio. This was the first of many moves in Bill's career with Chrysler. Along the way, Dot worked as the executive secretary to the President of Union Electric Steel in Carnegie and for the head of General Electric's Nuclear Division in San Jose, CA. They moved 15 times for Bill's work and have lived in as many houses. They last moved to Laguna Hills in 1986 as the community first was developed, and have been there ever since.

They were inveterate travelers and spent much of their vacations going abroad. They enjoyed

Hawaii, Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Thailand, the Nordic Countries and Russia. Dot's favorite was always France.

Dorothy was a legendary Scrabble player and delighted in playing with the family when they would gather for the holidays. She was a competitive player until the end. She enjoyed time with family and was a loving Wife and Mother.

Private Services will be held December 15, 2013 at the El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest at 1 PM.

Please join us for a Celebration of her life at Geneva Presbyterian Church on Saturday January 11th at 10:00 AM in Laguna Hills. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to Geneva Presbyterian Church in memory of Dorothy M. Donnelly.