- Date Of Birth: July 18, 1927
- Date Of Death: October 4, 2021
- State: Maine
Bath – Our mom, Dorothy R. ”Dot” Wasilewski, 94 years young, died October 4, 2021, at Sunnybrook, in Brunswick, Maine, following a life filled with adventure. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Harry and Hannah Isaacman. Dorothy graduated from Philadelphia High School for Girls and then worked at several jobs before meeting Midshipman Alex Wasilewski Jr. on a blind date at an Army-Navy football game. For the first 21 years of her life, her limited travel was to Atlantic City for summer vacations or to Annapolis to see Alex.
Her life as a “Navy wife” began in June of 1951, when Alex and Dorothy were married at her home in Philadelphia and they began 20 years of traveling, starting in Pensacola then on to Kansas, California, Hawaii, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, and Maine.
Mom’s motto was always “It’s never too late,” whether it was going back to school, earning a teaching degree, traveling, or trying a new job. She was very proud of starting her Bachelor’s degree at 37 in Ohio. The subsequent move in 1966 to Maine included completing her Bachelor’s in Education at 44, at USM. She then went on to obtain her Master’s in Education, as well as her Realtor’s license. Being widowed at 48 didn’t slow her down; in fact, it made her more determined to live life to the fullest.
She taught English at Morse High School for 19 years. In addition, for many of those years was a realtor for CHR Real Estate. Mom’s first “retirement” at 63, was from teaching. She reported to Houston, Texas the next month for her flight attendant training with Continental Airlines. Being a flight attendant allowed her the chance to travel wherever her interests took her and travel she did, for the next 10 years. When she first signed up for email, her address was Gypsygirl289, and she was very proud of her gypsy ways.
Her travels included Vancouver, Alaska, Rome, Egypt, London, Kenya, Switzerland, Germany, Guam, Truk, Bali, Saipan, Russia, China, and the American Southwest. Mom was on a transatlantic flight to Paris on the morning of 9/11/01 and was grounded there for a week before she could get home. That experience prompted her decision to make her second retirement at 75, this time from Continental. She then decided she would become a “snowbird” and Venice, Florida became her new winter home until she finally settled down in Maine at 85. When asked a few years ago how she wanted to be remembered, she simply stated, “I lived a full, full life and considered myself blessed.”
Mom was predeceased by her husband, Cdr. Alex Wasilewski Jr., who passed away in 1975, her siblings, Frankie Isaacman, Elaine Zupko and Jackie Kappes. She is survived by her four children and their spouses and significant others, Lynn Wasilewski and Tim Gingrow of Bath, Alex and Aida Wasilewski of Newport Beach, California, Elizabeth Wasilewski and Mike McGee of South Portland and Joan and Joe (Skip) Seeley of Bath. Grammy Dot was also very proud of her many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
