Dolores C. (Hipszer) Hale

Dolores C. (Hipszer) Hale, 90, of Collegeville, died Saturday, February 21, 2026, after a years-long struggle with CAA dementia and heart disease. She was lovingly cared for in her own home of 64 years and passed peacefully there with Catholic sacrament.

Mrs. Hale was born in Quakertown hospital and resided with her parents, Thomas J. Hipszer and Edith Kleinbach Hipszer in the Green Lane area near her grandparents, Frederick and Rose Kleinbach, and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins before moving to the family home in Collegeville so her father could be closer to Superior Tube where he was a supervisor for The Gable Family founding owners.

Dolores was a first grader in the very first St. Eleanor Catholic Church School classes and graduated from Collegeville-Trappe High School, Class of 1954. She completed her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Drexel University where she studied fashion design and merchandising, home economics and chemistry, and had become a life-long member of Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority.

Miss Hipszer became a Home Economics teacher at her high school alma mater where she met an engaging art teacher, Richard Hale. The two married in 1959 and welcomed their first child, Denise L. Hale of Worcester Township, the following year. Mrs. Hale continued to teach as a substitute as the couple welcomed their son, Stephen M. Hale of Collegeville, and moved from their Collegeville apartment to their own Collegeville home in 1962. They welcomed their third child, Karen Hale Toth of Linfield, a year later. Her post-teaching employment included retail administration for Abraham and Strauss Department Store in King of Prussia, Pa.

Dolores was a seamstress of the highest caliber, capable of creating entire wardrobes for her family and special occasion dresses for herself as she helped chaperone Perkiomen Valley High School dances and attended Cosmopolitan Club dances in Norristown for many years. After her husband's retirement, the couple managed their own volunteering by creating countless handmade quilts and baby blankets, many of which they donated to hospital pediatric units.
Dolores additionally enjoyed reading biographies, watching British comedies and, until his passing in 2005, traveling with her husband.

Dolores is survived by her sister, Sylvia Tormey of Perry Hall, MD; her three children and their spouses, Carol Uba Hale of Collegeville, and Rick Toth, Linfield; four grandchildren, Amy Hale Reinert (John), Lindsay Hale Hanna (Alec), Thomas W. Hale, all of Collegeville, and Grace Hale Toth, Linfield; three great grandchildren, Matthew Reinert, Benjamin Hanna and Lucy Hanna; three nephews, James Tormey (Sandra Hamilton) of Chicago, IL, Shawn Tormey (Suzanne) of Nottingham, MD, Matthew Hipszer (Sande) of Catonsville, MD; and two nieces, Victoria Hipszer Saxon (Mark) of Bel Air, MD, and Cara Hipszer Rose (Jack) of Catonsville, MD. She was predeceased by her parents, husband, brother, Thomas D. Hipszer (the late Patricia Kane Hipszer) and stepmother, Catherine Cuddy Hipszer.

Funeral arrangements by Holcombe Funeral Home of Trappe, include a viewing at St. Eleanor Catholic Church, 647 Locust Street, Collegeville from 10:00 to 11:15 a.m. on Friday, February 27, followed by a funeral mass. Interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, Pennsburg, PA, will be private at another time.

In lieu of flowers, donations in any amount can be made to Holy Cross Regional Catholic School Advancement Fund, 701 Locust Street, Collegeville, PA 19468, www.hcrc.school/advancement-fund.