Dolores Ann Payton

Dolores Ann Payton

January 11, 1930 – February 20, 2026

At the age of 96, after a long and full life, Dolores Ann Payton passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 15, 2026.

Born in the small coal mining town of Exeter, Pennsylvania on January 11, 1930, Dolores was the oldest child of Alfred and Anna Rosavage. Dolores would later joke that she was the proverbial "coal miner's daughter" as her father had worked in the mines as a teenager before advancing to the accounting department.

After high school, Dolores completed her education at College Misericordia (now Misericordia University), majoring in business. She was the first in her family to complete college. After graduation she taught high school business math for one year. She then moved to Washington, D.C. where she worked in the office of American military general and aviation pioneer Jimmy Doolittle.

She met her future husband, Marine Corps Captain LeRoy (Roy) Scott Payton, at an officers' dance. Dolores and Roy stayed close throughout his deployment to Korea during the War. Around this time, Dolores was interviewed for a position at the White House, but the offer was rescinded when the interviewer learned she had a boyfriend. General Doolittle thought the offer's withdrawal "ridiculous", but that's how things were in those days.

Dolores and Roy eloped and were married on January 8, 1954, at Parris Island, South Carolina where Roy was stationed. Later that year, he accepted an offer with Meredith Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa, where their first child, Robert, was born. Several months later, Roy was transferred to New York City, and the young family settled in New Jersey-eventually purchasing a home in the borough of Madison. Dolores and Roy raised three boys and two girls there. Christmas and Easter were always anticipated events at the Payton household, with a score of relatives stopping in to share a holiday meal, much laughter, and seasonal joy.

When Thomas was old enough to attend elementary school, Dolores secured employment as an executive secretary with Exxon Chemical Company in Florham Park. This was during the pioneering era of "women's liberation," when many women reentered the workplace after being culturally excluded due to child-rearing.

After all their children had left home, Dolores and Roy moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia to be closer to their children and grandchildren. Living near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, their home was a gathering place for family and friends from near and far. They showered love on their grandchildren unceasingly.

In later years, Dolores and Roy moved to Marian Manor in Virginia Beach, where they were community stalwarts until Roy's passing in 2023 after 69 years of marriage. Dolores continued to enjoy singing, listening to music, sitting outdoors when the weather was warm, and attending mass (always a source of profound and lifelong spiritual strength). She was proud to have reached 96 years of age, but looked forward to reuniting with her beloved husband "forever."

At the time of Dolores' passing, daughter Ann was visited by an incessant knocking on her patio door. When she opened the drapes, she was greeted by a Bluebird and Carolina Wren, who then flew off into the limitless expanses, thus assuring the survivors that all is well.

Dolores is preceded in death by her parents, Alfred and Anna Rosavage, brother Richard, sister-in-law Gerry, and many other family members and friends. She is survived by her sister Ann Marie, sisters-in-law Joanne and Lola, children: Robert (Denise), Ann (Bob), Christopher, Jennifer (Robbin), Thomas, and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She will be missed.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Marian Manor, 5345 Marian Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23462. Please write scholarship fund in the check memo line. The family extends its heartfelt thanks for the wonderful care that staff provided.

A service will be held on Friday, April 17th at 11:00 am at Holy Family Church in Virginia Beach. Interment will be at a later date at the Albert G. Horton Memorial Veterans Cemetery.

Roy & Dolores

7/3/1929 – 2/15/2026

Coal dust, dirt from dust bowl storms

flowed within their veins.

Depression their inheritance,

they grew to laugh, expansively,

at vanity and pain.

Released at last from earthly bounds,

expansiveness remains.