Obituary of Florence E. Mozzer

Florence (Dolly) E. Mozzer (Keenan), 97, died March 11, 2016 at Wintergreen North Residential Home Care in Brandon Vermont. She was born in Bristol, CT on August 17, 1918. Her parents were Andrew Stevenson and Dorothy Dowds. At about 6 months old, her father and her 3 year old sister died the same day of the flu epidemic. Dolly was adopted by her aunt and uncle, Deborah Dowds and Michael Keenan, as her mother felt she could not care for her and two other children.

Dolly grew up in East Haven and Branford. Michael Keenan died when Dolly was 10 or 12 and the next few years were difficult ones. At 16, she quit school and moved in with an aunt in Manchester. There she met Walter Mozzer who she always said "saved my life." They were married in 1940. Throughout her life Dolly worked various jobs, including sewing parachutes at Cheney Mills during WWII, as a nurse's aid and as a homemaker. She was proud to have advanced from line server to head cook at the Bennet Jr. High cafeteria in Manchester. In her 60s she worked for and achieved her GED and did home care for the elderly.

Her best times were the over 40 years of summers spent at Bashan Lake in East Haddam, CT where Walter had built an excellent little waterfront cottage. She also loved birds, especially canaries, and had several over the years. In 2006, she moved to Vermont to live near her daughter. She lived at The Commons in Middlebury for ten years.

She was predeceased by a brother Charles who died in childhood, her sister Marion, in 1982, her husband Walter in 1998, and her son Thomas in 2001. She leaves her daughter and son-in-law Patricia Stevenson and Robert Cone of Salisbury VT, her half-brother and his wife, Gary Rouillard and Midge of West Hartford, CT and a few nieces and nephews. The family would also like to thank the staff at Wintergreen North for their excellent care.

Funeral services will be held on Friday March 18th at 10:00 a.m. at the John F. Tierney Funeral Home, 219 West Center St. Manchester. Burial will follow at St. James Cemetery, Manchester. Family and friends may call at the funeral home prior to the service from 9:00-10:00 a.m.

Donation in her memory may be made to either the Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Center 236 Boardman St, Middlebury, VT. 05753 or Addison County Home Health and Hospice, Rte 7 N. Middlebury, VT 05753. For online condolences please visit www.tierneyfuneralhome.com.