Dorothy J. (Boyd) Roccanti

Dorothy J. (Boyd) Roccanti, 83, died at the Holyoke Soldiers Home in Holyoke, Mass., surrounded by her loving family, after a long illness.

Calling hours are Wednesday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at the Beers & Story Belchertown Funeral Home, 10 Maple St., Belchertown, Mass. A funeral service will be Thursday at 9:15 a.m. from the Beers & Story Funeral Home, followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. in St. Francis Church. Burial will follow in South Cemetery.

Mrs. Roccanti was born in Aredale, Iowa, the youngest of eight children of Robert and Sarah Boyd. She was a graduate of The Greene High School, Greene, Iowa. She served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II with the rank of yeoman 2nd class, serving in the Intelligence Office. She settled in Worcester, Mass., in 1944. She and her husband moved to Springfield, Mass., in 1960, Wilbraham, Mass., in 1977, Belchertown, Mass., in 1984 and Palmer in 1989, moving back to Belchertown in 1996.

She served as a library aide for the Springfield School Department and retired in 1983. She was also employed by Orchard Print Center, Indian Orchard, Mass.

Her family wrote, &#8220Dorothy found time to be very active while raising her six children. She was a den mother when her sons were in the Boy Scouts, worked as a volunteer at Holy Name School in Springfield, Mass., and a volunteer library aide while living in Alaska. She enjoyed playing golf and tennis.

&#8220While living in Alaska for seven years, she enjoyed skiing in the mountains, motorcycling with her husband and camping in their travel trailer. Her passion was to travel, visiting Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Europe a number of times, traveling by car twice across the U.S. and making three round trips to Alaska.

&#8220Dorothy was always ready and eager to go. She was installed as the first female member of the American Legion, Post 239, Belchertown, Mass.

&#8220A communicant of St. Francis of Assisi Church, Belchertown, she was active as a 24-hour adoration server and served as eucharistic minister to the hospitalized. Dorothy will be remembered for her warm loving smile and her gentleness to all who knew her.”

Mrs. Roccanti was predeceased by her first husband, Edward J. Roccanti, who died in 1944 during World War II and is buried in France. She leaves her loving and devoted husband of 57 years, Alfred J.; six children, Susan A., wife of Charles Robinson of Monson, Mass., Edward J. of Worcester, Mass., Barbara J., wife of Richard Kelleher of Wilbraham, Mass., Michael J., husband of Robin of Suffield, Ct., Robert B., husband of Mary of Ludlow, Mass., and Mary Meckling of Port St. John, Fla.; 15 grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren and a sister, Roberta Barth, of Greene, Iowa.

Contributions may be made to the Holyoke Soldiers Home, 110 Cherry St., Holyoke, MA 01040, the Belchertown Senior Center, P.O. Box 881, Belchertown, MA 01007 or to St. Francis Church Building Fund, Park Street, Belchertown, MA.

For more information, visit www.beersandstory.com.