Dorothy M. Gaffen
1924 - 2026
Dorothy Massirman Gaffen of Canton, Massachusetts, previously of Marblehead and Chelsea, died peacefully on January 23, 2026, three days shy of her 102nd birthday.
Daughter of Sam Masserman and Sarah Massirman. Loving wife of the late Leonard Henry Gaffen of 57 years. Beloved mother of Dian (Stephen) Seidel and Nancy (Daniel) Desrochers; grandmother of Neal Desrochers, Emily Desrochers (Junghoon Yang), and Brina Seidel (Scott Greenberg); and great-grandmother of Mira Greenberg.
Dorothy attended the Workmen’s Circle Shule, Shurtleff School, and Chelsea High School (class of 1940) and Stratford Jr. College in Boston. She worked as a bookkeeper for the Lincoln Oil Company in Boston and Boston Traders in Lynn. She was a volunteer for the Girl Scouts of America, SCORE, the Peabody-Essex Museum, the Jewish Heritage Center of the North Shore, and various committees at Orchard Cove. She was an avid reader, a lifelong museum lover, and a keen Scrabble player who cultivated those interests with her friends and family.
A funeral service will be held at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington Street, Canton, at 10 AM on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
Friends and family are invited to join a webcast of the service at the following link:
https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c26014176483237
Burial will follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
Donations in Dorothy’s memory may be made to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, her favorite museum for almost a century, at https://www.mfa.org/give
Stanetsky Memorial Chapel
781-821-4600
www.stanetskycanton.com
Daughter of Sam Masserman and Sarah Massirman. Loving wife of the late Leonard Henry Gaffen of 57 years. Beloved mother of Dian (Stephen) Seidel and Nancy (Daniel) Desrochers; grandmother of Neal Desrochers, Emily Desrochers (Junghoon Yang), and Brina Seidel (Scott Greenberg); and great-grandmother of Mira Greenberg.
Dorothy attended the Workmen’s Circle Shule, Shurtleff School, and Chelsea High School (class of 1940) and Stratford Jr. College in Boston. She worked as a bookkeeper for the Lincoln Oil Company in Boston and Boston Traders in Lynn. She was a volunteer for the Girl Scouts of America, SCORE, the Peabody-Essex Museum, the Jewish Heritage Center of the North Shore, and various committees at Orchard Cove. She was an avid reader, a lifelong museum lover, and a keen Scrabble player who cultivated those interests with her friends and family.
A funeral service will be held at Stanetsky Memorial Chapel, 475 Washington Street, Canton, at 10 AM on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
Friends and family are invited to join a webcast of the service at the following link:
https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c26014176483237
Burial will follow at Sharon Memorial Park.
Donations in Dorothy’s memory may be made to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, her favorite museum for almost a century, at https://www.mfa.org/give
Stanetsky Memorial Chapel
781-821-4600
www.stanetskycanton.com
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