Della Anna Dunay

1921 - 2017

Della Anna (Anderson) Dunay, 96, of Stafford Springs, died Sept. 1, 2017, at home.

The oldest child of Clarence Franklin "Jimmy" and Samantha Sarah Ann "Anna" (Oldershaw) Anderson, she was born on Jan. 1, 1921, in Groton, Massachusetts, where she graduated from high school in 1938. Fond memories of her teen years include seeing (three times) President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a convertible when he visited his sons attending the Groton School, a school bus trip to Washington, D.C., in 1938, and taking her mother to see the 1939 New York World's Fair. Della married John Steven Dunay in Stafford Springs in 1942, where the couple settled and built their home on Orcuttville Road in 1949. During her husband's World World II military service in Europe in the 1940s, she worked at the Stafford Worsted Co., first working on the mill floor then moving into office payroll and bookkeeping responsibilities, and left the job when the war ended. In the 1970s, she resumed her bookkeeping career at the Stafford Public Health Nursing Association and Visiting Nurse and Health Services in Rockville, from which she retired in 1985. During their retirement, Della and John were avid members of the Stafford Senior Center, regularly playing cards there as well as traveling on many of the cross-country bus trips organized for seniors. They also enjoyed spending time at their cottage on Leadmine Pond in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Her other favorite hobbies were knitting, gardening and crosswords, and she enjoyed watching golf on television. She was a member of St. Edward's parish and an active supporter of the local Knights of Columbus, of which John was a member.

She was predeceased by her husband, John, in 2005; brother, John F. "Andy" Anderson; and by sisters Gertrude Shoemaker and Dorothy Burchett. Della is survived by a daughter, Lynnette Ellen Foucher of Stafford Springs; and two sons, John Steven Dunay, Jr., of Stafford Springs and Neil George Dunay of Palm Springs, California. She is also survived by her sister Flora Youngs of Georgia; sisters-in-law Margaret Woytik of Jamestown, Rhode Island, Helen Cartier of Pinellas Park, Florida, Kathryn and husband, Frank Malack of Willington; and many nieces and nephews.

A calling hour will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 5, from 10-11 a.m. with a funeral service to take place at 11 a.m. at Introvigne Funeral Home, Inc., 51 East Main St., Stafford Springs. Burial will follow in St. Edward Cemetery, Stafford Springs.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of Stafford, c/o Rose Roszczewski, P.O. Box 25, Stafford Springs, CT 06076.

For online condolences or directions, please visit

www.introvignefuneralhome.

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