BROOKLYN – Dorothy (Dot) Galante, 97, longtime resident of Waterbury, and of Brooklyn and Dayville, passed away peacefully on Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, at Westview Health Care Center in Dayville. She was the widow of Pasquale J. Galante and the mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt and godmother to a large and loving family.
Dot was born on Jan. 22, 1921, in Waterbury, the daughter of the late Joseph E. and Nell (Wheeler) Champagne. Her father died when she was a young child, and her mother raised Dot and her siblings by herself, doing piecework for a local factory to supplement Joseph’s veteran’s pension.
Dot was one of the only members of her family to graduate from high school, graduating from Waterbury Catholic around 1940. As a teenager, Dot befriended Dolores (Do) Galante, and met Do’s handsome, outgoing older brother, Pat.
During World War II, Dot worked as an inspector of nylon parachute cord at Heminway & Bartlett in Waterbury and Pat served in the Air Force in the Pacific Theater. They were married May 5, 1945, and enjoyed 63 years of marriage before his passing in 2008.
After the war, Dot and Pat raised their three children, Richard, Meg and Michelle, on the second floor of their triple-decker with grandparents, in-laws and cousins above and below. Dot and Pat were fond of surprising their kids with unexpected “adventures,” loading them into the station wagon in their pajamas and driving overnight so that they would wake up in the Catskills, at Lake George or in Gettysburg, Pa.
Their favorite vacation was a yearly trip to Atlantic City, where Pat and Dot had spent their honeymoon. In later years, Dot and Pat drove all over the country to attend Pat’s Air Force reunions, often bringing their children and grandchildren along.
They also traveled by car sightseeing and visiting friends with Phil and Lucy Galante and their dear friends, Jerry and Nellie Arcaro. In 2007, they moved to eastern Connecticut to be closer to all three of their children and their families.
Dorothy leaves her three children and their spouses, who were her constant companions, Richard and Janet Galante of Pomfret, Meg Galante-DeAngelis and Mark DeAngelis of Willimantic and Michelle and Robert Plucenik of Brooklyn. She will be missed by her grandchildren and their partners, Seth Galante, Carlo and Melynda Galante, Emily Galante, Caitlin and Finnegan Hopkins, Benjamin DeAngelis, Graham DeAngelis, Wheeler DeAngelis, Brighid DeAngelis, Alexandra Plucenik and Jim Noel, and Andréa Plucenik.
In recent years, Dot’s greatest joys were her great-grandchildren, Giuliana and Liam Galante, Amalia and Sam Hopkins, and Bella and 8-month-old Kamryn Noel. Dot also leaves her loving niece, Rita Sarandrea, and her siblings-in-law, Gloria Iavasile and Michael and Kathryn Galante and their families.
She was predeceased by her dear sisters who lived with her, Rita Champagne, Marie Elward and Edna Johnson. Dot made a wide circle of friends in northeastern Connecticut who were as special to her as she was to them.
Her family would like to thank the staff at both Creamery Brook Retirement Village and Westview Health Care Center, where Dot resided since 2007.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Westview Recreation Dept., 150 Ware Road, Dayville, CT 06241.
Services will be announced at a later date_ Funeral arrangements and cremation have been entrusted to the Gilman Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Church St., Putnam, CT 06260. For memorial guest book visit gilmanandvalade.com.
