Dorothy Riley Dempsey

July 10, 1922 - November 15, 2018

Dorothy Riley Dempsey, a resident of Lyndhurst for seventy one years and a dedicated teacher in town for almost three decades, died of natural causes Thursday, November 15 at the Paramus Veterans Memorial Home. She was 96 years old. Born in the Bronx, New York, graduated from James Madison High School 1940, she served in the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard SPARS, during World War II in Boston. Dorothy and her late husband John (Jack) Dempsey, married and moved to Lyndhurst in June 1947 and began a family that would grow to five daughters. In 1969 Dorothy earned a bachelor's degree in education from Newark State College and taught in the Lyndhurst public school system, primarily in the fourth grade. She was a Girl Scout leader for several decades. She also founded the Mount Carmel Golden Tones Senior Chorus and performed with the group as a pianist and choral director. She was appointed by then Governor Jim Florio to the state Commission for Women's Veterans. She was also Grand Marshall of the 2017 Lyndhurst Centennial parade. She is survived by five daughters - Susan Claydon of England, Dr. Elizabeth Norman of Montclair, Dot Ellen Claydon and Maureen Dempsey of Massachusetts, and Joan Tracy of Harrisburg, PA - eleven grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Funeral Thursday, November 29 at 9AM from the Ippolito-Stellato Funeral Home, 425 Ridge Road, Lyndhurst. Funeral Mass 10AM Sacred Heart R.C. Church. Friends will be received Wednesday, November 28, 2-4 & 7-9PM. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to Paramus Veterans Memorial Home, 1 Veterans Drive, Paramus NJ 07652.