Dorothy Jean (Rooney) O’ Rourke

Completing one final tour of her favorite month, Dorothy Jean O’Rourke entered eternity on the evening of October 31 at her home in Woodstock, VT.  She was 96. The family wishes to thank the staff at Woodstock Terrace for their loving care in recent years.

Born April 7, 1926 in Buffalo NY, Dorothy Jean Rooney soon displayed a girl’s enthusiasm and a headful of blonde curls.  As a child in the Depression, she developed a stoic side-- she recalled using sticks to roast potatoes over an open fire for her family’s dinner. But she also lived with joy and great humor. She whispered to her six young children in the church pew, “the next name the priest mentions, that’s what we’ll call the new cat”, then watched everyone squirm with anticipation.  And once she started laughing in church, there was almost no stopping her.

She joined the Cadet Nursing Corps during World War II.  Then, one night in 1947, Dorothy wore a red dress and met former US Army Staff Sergeant Larry O’Rourke on a blind double date. Neither of them imagined that they would marry within months and celebrate 72 wedding anniversaries until his death in 2020. 

See his obituary at www.cabotfh.com/obituary/lawrence-orourke 

They enjoyed dancing together, and many family trips to Cape Cod. She painted in oils and tended her rose gardens, but mostly she tended her children. She earned the nickname “Ma Bear” for unfailing devotion to her cubs. Never wanting to say goodbye to any of them, she sent countless handwritten letters and cookie tins to college dormitories and apartments, and her warm home and kitchen welcomed everyone back during holidays. 

That home took many names over time, from Tennessee to Kentucky, New Jersey, South Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, back to Pennsylvania and finally to Vermont.  

Secure in her Catholic faith, she attended mass for as long as she was able. She loved God, knew Jesus as her savior, and enjoyed Christian literature, seeking scriptures and quotations to clip, save, and live by. 

Dorothy is survived by her six children: Thomas O’Rourke (Cyndi) of Milton GA; Paul O’Rourke of Germantown TN;  Steven O’Rourke of Northridge CA; Susan Loskutoff (Dan) of White River Junction VT; Daniel O’Rourke (Bren) of Trussville AL; and David O’Rourke (Jo-Ann) of Wyomissing PA.  She also loved her 16 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Now reunited in heaven with Larry, she will be buried together with his urn at a celebration of their lives in Uxbridge, Massachusetts.

The cat’s name was Nicodemus.

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