Dolores Noonan

Dolores Noonan (née Duval)

BRISTOL

Dolores Noonan (née Duval), 91, of Portland, Connecticut, died on March 12th - a woman of sharp wit and deep determination who never met a crossword she couldn't solve.

Born in Bristol, Connecticut in 1934 to Joseph and Juliette (Laurendeau) Duval, Dolores grew up in a Franco-American household where French was the first language spoken. She attended a French school taught by nuns before making the transition to an English-language high school - a shock at first, she would say, but one she quickly came to appreciate.

She married William Noonan and together they settled in Wethersfield, where they raised their two daughters, Evelyn and Mary. Dolores began her career as a secretary in the legal department at Connecticut General Life Insurance, stepped away to raise her family, and later joined Trinity College in Hartford - first as secretary to the English department, and eventually as Executive Assistant to the Vice President. In retirement, she and Bill enjoyed extended road trip vacations throughout the United States and Canada, including an obligatory stop in Noonan, North Dakota. They later settled in Portland, Connecticut. Bill passed away in 2013.

Dolores had a lifelong love of words that showed up early. At 27, she wrote a wonderful essay about a white right-hand-drive Jaguar she had briefly owned - describing herself as a formerly shy girl who blended nicely with the woodwork until the car changed all that, including, she noted, accepting drag race challenges at red lights.

That love of language never left her. She completed the daily crossword in the Hartford Courant without fail and when that grew too easy, she took up diagramless crosswords, solving them without the grid. Every day when her daughters came home from school, there would be a note waiting - sometimes just a message, sometimes a cryptogram tucked inside. She quit smoking at 90 after nearly eight decades, never looked back, and always made sure dessert (carrot cake if possible!) came first.

She spent her final years first at Greystone Retirement Home and then at Portland Care and Rehab, where her dry humor and easy demeanor were much appreciated by staff and residents alike, and where she remained an avid Words with Friends player until the end. The staff at Portland Care looked after her with great kindness and skill, and the family is deeply grateful.

She was predeceased by her husband William, her parents, and her three brothers, Al, Bob, and Buck. She is survived by her daughters Evelyn and Mary.

A memorial service will be held at a later date. The Portland Memorial Funeral Home, 231 Main St., Portland, is in charge of arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to Read to Grow ( https://readtogrow.org ), a Connecticut nonprofit dedicated to bringing books and literacy to children from birth. For a woman who loved words as deeply as Dolores did, helping a child discover that same love feels like a fitting tribute.