Obituary of Doxie E. Antonia

Doxie Eliza Antonia, age 83, a longtime resident of Manchester, Connecticut, who most recently lived in South Windsor, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 14, 2023.

Doxie was born to her French-Canadian parents, Joseph and Marie McDonald, and was celebrated as Gardner, Massachusetts’ first-born baby on New Year’s Day, 1940. Doxie grew up in Gardner with her three brothers, Louis, Roger and Paul McDonald and her sister Jane. Doxie graduated from Gardner High School in 1957. Soon after, she married her loving and devoted husband of 65 years, Paul Antonia, who was serving in the United States Air Force at the time. While living at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, Doxie and Paul had their first-born son, Keith, in 1959, then Scott in 1960.  After leaving the Air Force, they moved back to New England where their daughter Velvet was born in 1961, Seth in 1963, and Bruce in 1966. Their beloved son Seth suffered and sadly died from Leukemia at the young age of two.

Paul’s job with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft kept the family moving every few years from Connecticut to Massachusetts to Iowa to Ohio. During these years, Doxie not only raised her four children, but also helped support the family by selling Avon and Tupperware door-to-door and working in a nursing home as a nurse’s aide while also attending community college part-time with the goal of earning her degree in nursing. The family moved back to Connecticut to settle in Manchester in 1976, where Doxie’s undaunted determination to become a nurse finally paid off as she was able to complete her degree while also working in nursing homes and raising teenagers. She proudly graduated at the top of her class from the Greater Hartford Community College in 1980. Doxie then began her career as a registered nurse, mostly with patients recovering from orthopedic surgery at Manchester Memorial Hospital - work that she enjoyed and found thoroughly rewarding helping patients for 20 years.

Doxie retired from Manchester Memorial Hospital in 1999, after which she was able to devote more time to the hobbies she enjoyed: knitting, stained glass, hand-made exquisite oriental rugs, cross stitching, and other creative works of art. She generously put to good use her knitting talent volunteering her time making knit hats for babies in local hospitals.

Doxie was predeceased by her two-year-old son, Seth, and her siblings, Louis and Paul McDonald, and Jane Lee. She is survived by her brother, Roger McDonald of Gardner, Massachusetts; husband, Paul Antonia of South Windsor, Connecticut; sons and daughters-in-law Keith and Angela Antonia of Dahlonega, Georgia; Scott and Tere Antonia, of Durham, North Carolina; daughter and son-in-law Velvet and David Daley of Manchester, Connecticut; and son and daughter-in-law Bruce and Jennifer Antonia, of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Doxie leaves behind 9 beloved grandchildren: Andrew, Michelle, John, Steven, Ricardo, Joseph, Alejandro, Luke, and Jake and 17 great-grandchildren: Addilaide, Reygan, Anniston, Kennedy, Christopher, Grant, Abigail, Payton, Tyler, Hayes, Elena, Madison, Lincoln, Mason, Lucille, Maya, and Sebastian.

In lieu of flowers, Doxie’s family would appreciate donations to the BrightFocus Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research. Go to support.brightfocus.org and select Alzheimer’s. Please select “Alzheimer’s Disease Research,” and check “This is an honor/memorial gift” box.

Condolences may be sent to the family and details of the services may be found at Tierney Funeral Home website.

Doxie will be dearly missed by all who loved her. A life-long devout Catholic, Doxie’s calling hours will take place at John F. Tierney Funeral Home at 219 West Center Street in Manchester, Connecticut on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Her funeral mass will follow at Assumption Church at 27 Adams St. S. in Manchester at 11:00 a.m. Following mass, her burial will take place at Saint James Cemetery at 368 Broad St. in Manchester. There will be a reception for friends and family at 1:15 p.m. until complete at the Trattoria Toscana, 706 Hartford Road, Manchester.