Obituary for Dorothy Bernard
NORTH LIMA - Dorothy DeBartolo Bernard, 91, born March 24, 1923, in Youngstown on McGuffie Road, died Nov. 29, 2014, at Parkside Healthcare, and she formerly resided in North Lima.
Dorothy was next to the oldest in her family of six children.
She married Ernest Bernard in Youngstown on June 21, 1941.
She attended South High and worked after she was married.
Dorothy could do just about anything and was afraid of nothing. While her husband was in World War II, she went to the state of Alabama and worked as a waitress, then in a factory to dehydrate eggs, in a factory assembly line sanding spacers for transformers, and then she was responsible for setting the big machines on 1/64” to make the rolls for the spacers before going on the sewing machine assembly line making parachutes.
She was ambitious, energetic and always a leader. She worked as the CEO and COO in her husband’s contracting office. She earned her Real Estate License in Ohio and Florida and sold properties in both states.
Dorothy was best known for her caring and generous spirit and for sharing her outstanding cooking skills, andshe was famous for her homemade orecchiette and the special DeBartolo Bisquitine cookies, as well as other Italian family favorites, and for her loving hospitality. Dorothy enjoyed entertaining and being with people, and she especially loved her God and she had an intimate prayer life.
She recently attended the Assembly of God Church in North Lima and for many years prior to that, the Highway Tabernacle.
She is survived by her husband, Ernest Bernard; her son, Richard (Dick) and Audrey Bernard of Palm Harbor, Fla.; three grandchildren, Shari Kellerhals of Phoenix, Douglas and Denise Bernard of North Lima and Terrance Bernard of Kansas City; seven great-grandchildren; and four great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by brothers and sisters Cosmo DeBartolo and Loretta DeBartolo of Boardman, Jack Jr. DeBartolo and Patsy DeBartolo of Paradise Valley, Ariz.; and many more close nieces, nephews, cousins and loving friends.
Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, Jack DeBartolo and Grace (Sassanelli) DeBartolo of Youngstown; an infant son, David Bernard in 1965; a brother, Frank DeBartolo and wife Anne Natora DeBartolo of Nashville; sisters Anntonette DeBartolo (Fortunato) Flood of Land-O-Lakes, Fla., and Eleanor Grace DeBartolo McDaniel of North Grandby, Conn.
Dorothy was like a mother to many and the matriarch in the DeBartolo family. She was intelligent, an obedient daughter, a loving caregiver, a capable teacher, an adoring sister, a faithful wife, and her son affectionately called her “Sergeant,” but most of all, she was a Godly woman.
Friends and family may pay their respects on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, from 11 a.m. to 12:50 p.m. at the Rossi & Santucci Funeral Home, 4700 Market St., Boardman.
There will be a funeral service Saturday, Dec. 6, 2014, at 1 p.m. at the funeral home, with Pastor Rick McDaniels officiating.
Entombment will take place at Green Haven Memorial Gardens, Canfield.