Mary J. Dooley

DOOLEY – Beautiful inside and out! Always smiling with the most positive optimistic personality! Mary J. Dooley was known by many as “Queen Miss Mary!’ As a devout spirit-filled Roman Catholic, she loved to pray all her life. Well, our Lord showed up and orchestrated Miss Mary to be surrounded by her family she adored as Jesus Christ peacefully slipped her into his loving arms at 11:30 a.m. June 4, 2022, fittingly on a bright sunny day! It was by no accident that it was also Pentecost celebration weekend! Hallelujah! Heaven is a lot brighter now that our precious Queen Mary is there!

Mary was a coal miner’s daughter, born Oct. 8, 1916, via Josephine and Salvatore Miceli, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., making her 105 1/2 years young! In Pennsylvania, she held many leadership rolls at St. Dominc’s Catholic Church. Her creativity made all events shine with elegance and beauty!

Then, Mary moved and lived more than 37 years in St. Marys with her only daughter, Dr. Marguerite D. Durr, and her husband, Ed Durr, and grandson, Dwayne Durr. Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, where her name with the Durr Family, adorns one of the gorgeous stained glass windows, depicting “The Visitation,” stands in Our Lady Star of the Sea today!

Miss Mary has blessed this world with her many amazing talents as a professional seamstress for high-end Leslie Fay clothing, accomplished artist, leading officer for International Ladies Garment Workers Union Conventions (ILGWU), where she got an autographed picture with President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, stage manager for St. Marys Little Theatre plays, and dancer with the local line dance troupe called “Get Off Your Rockers” until she was in her 80s, keeping up with dancers half her age!

Mary’s first passion in life was Jesus Christ, next was her beautiful close-knit family! Whether she was swimming and playing pool games with all her grandchildren in her daughter’s pool or taking many fun-filled trips to many beaches they visited all together, Mary was in her glory! While her daughter was in South Carolina and Georgia school systems, Mary would read story books to her thrilled students! Her homemade banana bread and from scratch blueberry muffins were second to none! She was crowned queen twice at St. Marys Senior Center Balls and sat in a refurbished gold convertible in the local Mardi Gras parade happily throwing beads to all the children at the parades! She was honored by past Mayor Jerry Brandon by awarding her “The Key to the City, as Queen of the Center!” She love life and live loved her!

She is survived by her sister, Nancy Soley. She was predeceased by her two brothers, Joseph and Steve Miceli; two sisters, Anna Kondratick, and Rose Long, her mentioned above grandchildren and great-grandchildren, many nephews nieces and cousins, including her great-grand furbaby dog, Sadie, all very loved by Mary.

Only a funeral mass will be 10 a.m. Friday, June 10, at our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church with Priest Father Marius presiding. To honor Mary’s favorite color, please try to wear “some pink” if you plan to attend her mass in her honor. A private interment will follow at St. Marys Oak Grove Cemetery. Those serving as pallbearers are grandsons Brian and Dwayne Durr, and great-grandsons, Jon, Nick and Matthew Durr, and Jack Todd.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to any of the following in Mary’s honor: Our Lady Star of the Sea Building Fund, The St. Marys Senior Care Center or Hospice of Golden Isles.  

Allison Memorial Chapel Funeral Home has been entrusted with the funeral arrangements of Mrs. Mary J. Dooley.