Kathleen "Kathy" M. Dolan

Kathleen “Kathy” Marie Dolan—-easygoing, kind to all, and inclined to break out in song for a laugh--passed away in good care and good company after a six-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease on Friday, January 19th, 2024.

The daughter of the late Dr. and Mrs. Robert and Mary Murphy of Wethersfield, Kathy was born on June 8, 1951 and attended St. Augustine Elementary School and Mercy High School before receiving her B.S.N. in nursing from Carlow College in Pittsburgh. This is where she met her husband of fifty years, Dr. Thomas Dolan. Together with their three children, they lived in Wethersfield and Groton Long Point, and more recently in West Hartford. For many years, Kathy worked as a nurse in a variety of settings, including Doctors’ Hospital in NYC, St. Francis and Hartford Hospitals and as a school nurse in the Wethersfield elementary schools. In later years, Kathy volunteered weekly at the House of Bread in Hartford for over ten years, serving meals to those in need. Her true life’s work, however, was staying home to raise her children, and in later years, devoting much of her love and energy to her grandchildren.

Kathy led a very busy life, including being an active Girl Scout Troop leader, Hanmer PTO Board member for many years, the Junior Women’s Club, the Wethersfield Garden Club and several book clubs in Wethersfield and at her summer home in Groton Long Point. She shared her imagination and vision with young children by opening Rosewater Teas, a creative tea room located in Old Wethersfield. She spent countless hours tending to her gardens in Wethersfield or at the beach, an activity that brought her much joy and satisfaction.

The middle of eight children, Kathy’s family includes Judy (Murphy) Keane, Kevin Murphy, Barbara (Murphy) and John Curran, and Maureen (Murphy) and Tom Willsey. She is also mourned by dozens of nieces and nephews and their families, as well as a loving extended family of in-laws in Pennsylvania and Virginia. In her family, she is predeceased by Denis Murphy, Brendan Murphy, Marilyn (Murphy) and Jeff Fortier, Dick Keane, Dan Keane, and Keegan Moeller.

Kathy enjoyed a whole day in her garden, a whole afternoon in a movie theater, and a whole hour watching a storm roll in over Fishers Island Sound. She especially loved sharing these moments with her grandchildren, Emma and Teddy Craft and Finn and Reid Moeller, with whom she could turn a simple walk into a magical adventure of leaf-finding and fairy houses.

Erin (Dolan) Craft of Longmeadow, MA, Sarah Dolan (and Dr. Carl Moeller) of West Hartford, and Dr. Brendan Dolan of Wethersfield remember their mother as a woman who was generous and enjoyed simple pleasures, such as finding treasures at antique shops, arranging flowers, drinking all the coffee, and dressing up in costumes whenever acceptable.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, January 27 at 11 a.m. at The First Church of Christ, 250 Main Street, Old Wethersfield. Memorial Contributions to the Keane Foundation, the Environmental Defense Fund or the Elizabeth Park Conservancy would honor Kathy’s memory. The D’Esopo Funeral Chapel, Wethersfield has been entrusted with the arrangements. To share a memory of Kathy, please visit www.desopofuneralchapel.com.