Dorothy T. May

1928 - 2026

OBITUARY

Dorothy T. May, passed away on January 10, 2026 in Houston, Texas.

She is predeceased by her parents Frank and Rose May. Her brother Frank J. May and his wife Joan, her sisters Rose May, Mary Judge and her husband John, and a nephew John Michael May. She is survived by her niece Marie Vinson and her husband Jerry, and her nephews Frank Patrick May, and James May.

Dotty – nothing wrong with the name Dorothy – but Dotty has a zip to it, a zest for whomever has it. That was certainly the case for my aunt, Dotty. She had a zest for life – a New Yorker who lived up to the image of its residents. And a Texan who could handle the heat.

Aunt Dotty took pride in her first home in Saint Albans of Queens. She told of playing in the yard and walking in the neighborhood mostly with her sister, Mary. When old enough she entered what’s known in New York as “the rat race,” commuting more than an hour each way from Long Island to White Plains.

Her role as executive assistant to leaders of General Foods gave her a great career – and plenty of Birds Eye vegetables for her family, especially the niece and nephews like me. She managed to work in important wellness activities to balance with her work life.

Those included skiing in Vermont and Pennsylvania, travel across the country and occasionally overseas, and of course the summer vacations in a small cottage in Southampton, which my parents and my siblings took advantage of for weeklong summer trips.

An important note for me personally and my brothers and sister: If it weren’t for Aunt Dotty, we wouldn’t be here. I say that because she connected my father and mother in the early 1950s, and we are the result of that union. Thank you very much for that Dotty – and Mom and Dad.

One of her greatest gifts to us was helping to organize the family barbecues at the place she and grandpa and grandma made their home in Woodbury for many years. I can still picture those get-togethers in my mind’s eye, and they were sorely missed when our May family moved to Houston, Texas, in 1970.

The saying “when you leave New York you leave the world” applies indirectly for Aunt Dotty. Five months after her sister Mary passed at 100 years old in 2023 (Dotty was 95 and still driving the LIE to visit Mary almost weekly), she came to Texas under the delicate care of niece Marie and nephew James.

She didn’t want to leave New York, but she knew she needed them to continue her zest for life. She did, sharp as a whip, always aware of what was happening around her. Again, she didn’t want to leave the world, but the body said it was time.

In so doing, she left her family with the greatest of gifts – an example of how to live our lives with zip, with zest. Thank you and God bless my Aunt Dotty.

FUNERAL MASS

Thursday, April 16 11:00 AM Holy Name of Jesus R.C. Church 690 Woodbury Road, Woodbury, NY

INURNMENT

Thursday, April 16

St. Charles Cemetery 2015 Wellwood Avenue, Farmingdale, NY

IN LIEU OF FLOWERS

Please make donations in Dorothy's name to:

Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey

9200 NE Abbey Road, Carlton, Oregon 97111

or

Holy Name of Mary R.C. Church

690 Woodbury Road, Woodbury, NY 11797-2504

(516) 921-2334