SCOTTSDALE Dolores Joan Heller
– Dolores Joan Heller (Dee Dee) was born to Ida and Michael Napoliello on June 19, 1935 in Newark, New Jersey. Dee and her twin sister were the middle of four sisters who were inseparable, even while raising their own families (their children, ‘the cousins’, used the word ‘mom’ interchangeably to refer to any one of the sisters). Dee moved to Belleville, NJ in grade school where she lived above her parent’s grocery store. They sold the store and moved to a small house where Dee became very active in the arts, music and athletics at Belleville High School. As a girl, she made a promise to herself to always be positive and kind, something she NEVER wavered from her entire life. Everyone loved Dee Dee for her magnetic, fun-loving personality and incredible sense of humor. During her summers, Dee and her sisters had a ball working at the new jersey shore. After high school she excelled in various office jobs and in the late 50’s met her first husband while working at Blonder Tongue in Newark, NJ. The two were married in 1960 and moved to Endicott NY, where they had two children.
They moved to Fayetteville, a suburb of Syracuse NY, in 1966, where she raised her son and daughter while attending night school. With over 10’ of snow a year, they quickly became avid skiers. Her sisters would come with their kids every year to ski in the winter and stay in cabins at the nearby lake in the summer. She would throw her kids in the car and head to the new jersey shore every chance she could. She was a patient, non-judgmental, loving mother. On most summer days, you could find Dee Dee at snooks pond (playing hooky from work) or on her bike riding the Erie canal. She loved to tell people that she never missed a single day at the gym, even in her 80’s! Dee was a trailblazer, akin to Jacqueline Kennedy and Mary Tylor Moore, who she admired immensely. She worked in sales at the Eagle Bulletin, where she tripled the size of the paper. She also worked at WTVH, where she did sales, layout and wrote jingles for commercials. In 1985 she started selling ‘air’ at WSYR radio station, where she met her closest and oldest friends – a weekend with Dee was always an adventure and, as usual, full of laughter. Always on the go, running, laughing, and inspiring everyone in her path.
She tried selling advertising to an already successful business, who’s owner happened to be a twin. He wasn’t interested, but she was persistent and in 1993 they were married. Her husband said she was the love of his life – they were two peas in a pod, defined by their ability to laugh and make everyone around them laugh. Dee frequently said, “he makes me laugh all day long”. Everywhere they traveled locally and abroad, they were voted the best couple to have along. They built a beautiful home in Dewitt, NY in 1992 and in 1997 became ‘snowbirds’ when they bought a second home in Scottsdale, Arizona. In 2016, after 50 years in Syracuse, NY, they moved to Portland, Oregon where they spent their summers with Dee’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. They were the best grandparents in the world.
Although an accomplished artist in all mediums, Dee fell in love with sculpture and created beautiful ‘nudes’ out of clay, soon graduating to marble like her mentor, Michelangelo. She took college classes most of her adult life, read voraciously, and never missed her morning coffee with her newspaper and Sunday times. Dee truly lived in the moment and had an uncanny ability to disarm the passing stranger, and bring joy to everyone she encountered, especially those who needed it most. She has left the world a better, more compassionate place. Thank you Dee Dee.
Dee is survived by her husband Mel of 29 years, son Joe, daughter Laurie, sister’s Marion and Vi, 4 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, as well as Mel’s brother, Jerry, and two sons, Stephen and David and 2 grandchildren. The service will be held at Messinger Pinnacle Peak Mortuary.