Dolores Diangelo

Dolores Jean (Palcko) Diangelo, 90 years old, passed peacefully on Friday, May 7, 2021 at Cedar Village Retirement Community in Mason, Ohio.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Patsy; sisters, Frances Nichols, Janet Barbetta and Betty Nicpon; and brothers, Wendall, Richard, Ralph and Edward Palcko; and parents Ralph Sr. and Lillian Palcko; and great grand-daughter Kali. She is survived by sons Mark, Barry, and Joseph (Sharmin), and daughter Gina; grandchildren Katelyn and Nicholas; Kelly, Leeanne, and Tricia; and Lauren (Alex) and Michael; and great-grandchildren Kasey and Elijah.

Dolores graduated with honors from Cumberland High School in 1948 where she was in the National Honor Society, selected Most Popular, a cheerleader, and an active member of other organizations. In 1949 she graduated from a Junior Accounting program at Penn Commercial College. She met her late husband Patsy at a local dance where they began a lifelong romance on the dance floor after a 1950 wedding.  They moved to Ohio and later started the Mason Shopping Guide which became the Pulse Journal. Dolores ran all office operations while taking care of their growing family. Later she worked at RCI Timeshare International and Communicare Inc before retiring to spend more time at the beach and with family and friends.

Dolores always put others before herself working as a quiet advocate behind the scenes. She was an active member of St. Susanna Catholic Church. Gina and her special needs were always a significant focal point of Dolores’ life. Dolores defied the odds by convincing local Mason schools to mainstream special needs children in the 1970s. She supported levies to expand services to Warren County special needs children and raised funds by cooking for spaghetti dinners and was involved in other special needs activities. Her remarkable efforts along with those of her late husband were recognized by Xavier University in the feature film of three special needs families titled Welcome to Holland: A Study in Family Resilience. Xavier also created the Pat and Dolores Diangelo Resiliency Award due to their extraordinary endeavors.

A private Catholic Mass will be held at St. Susanna Catholic Church, followed by a Christian funeral at Gate of Heaven Catholic Cemetery. The family requests that contributions be made to Special Olympics Ohio at https://sooh.org. A Celebration of Life event will be held later after Covid concerns have dissipated.