LOVING, COLORFUL, GIVING AND FUN

Dolores (Summa) Boyle, of Newton, MA, formerly of Charlestown and Wayland, MA, died peacefully on April 11. For 64 years, Dolores was the devoted and loving wife of John Joseph ”Jack” Boyle, Jr. whom she met in Columbus, OH, where she was working for

Hanes Hosiery. On their first date, he insisted she drink beer instead of wine, something only a headstrong Irishman would have the guts to say to the glamorous Dolores Summa. Despite a marriage proposal from another suitor, she eventually chose Jack and converted to Catholicism for him.

They were married in Watertown, NY, February 27, 1960.

Dolores “Dodie” was born February 22, 1931 in Watertown, NY, daughter of Italian immigrants, James

Vincenzo Summa and Marianna Di Rubbo Summa. Dodie grew up in Syracuse, NY, she graduated high school from The Knox School for

Girls in Cooperstown, NY and later, Syracuse University. She majored in drama, studying alongside actor Peter Falk. She waitressed in the Catskills, entered fashion shows, was one of the first model/actresses to do TV advertising, taught elementary school in Long Island and was the first woman corporate sales representative for Hanes in New York City, before relocating to Columbus, OH.

After marriage, Dodie and Jack settled down outside of New Haven, CT, where they raised four boys, never forgetting a fifth son who passed shortly after his birth. When the eldest reached school age, Dodie and Jack moved to Wayland, where they lived for 25 years. There, she made her mark: ardent cheerleader of her sons’ sports, instigator of neighborhood social activity and untiring champion of the disadvantaged. She was awarded a huge “Greatest Neighbor in the World” trophy, which she cherished.

Dodie spearheaded multiple charitable efforts, helping support the Parmenter Health Center, initiating Wayland Hospice-at-Home program and supporting Life Resources outreach program serving at-risk adolescent boys. She raised money for Bay Cove/Center House, serving people with mental illness and supported SafeSpace shelter for victims of domestic violence in Stuart, FL.

Dodie’s interests and talents were many. She loved the theater and performed at the Volkes Theater in Wayland. She started microbusinesses, such as selling imported Peruvian sweaters and helping her daughterin-law start an African art business in a similar model. Dodie was proud that her family was one of the first in Wayland to host Metco students from inner City Boston. If she wasn’t organizing an event, she was in the kitchen singing Broadway tunes and cooking up wonderful Italian meals for her ravenous boys. Dodie had a lot of style and loved dressing up, especially on Halloween, when she was such a convincingly hideous witch that she frightened all visitors. Nobody recognized her, even as she mischievously kissed the husbands of her best friends on her “witch hunt”.

More than 25 years later, when the nest was empty, Dodie and Jack moved to the Charlestown Navy Yard, where she made a beautiful home overlooking the site of Jack’s honorary Navy Discharge decades before. In her building, Flagship, she was known for starting the garden club and cooking extra food so there’d be enough for the doorman, too. And for over 25 years she volunteered three days a week as a tutor at the Boys and Girls Club of Charlestown. In the winter, Dodie and Jack would host memorable parties for friends and extended family at Harbour Ridge in Stuart, FL and in the summer at their Cape Cod home in Orleans, MA.

Dodie was small in stature but big in spirit. Not a quiet woman, she was opinionated, knew what she wanted and was always willing to make that known. She lived a long, colorful, fun life. Most of all, she made a difference. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her. She was predeceased by her two brothers, Andrew and Joseph Summa. She is survived by her husband,

Jack; and their four sons, John Boyle and wife, Mary, Edward Boyle and wife, Cameron, James Boyle and wife, Hanna, David Boyle and wife Oselinda; and was the “Nona” for eight grandchildren, Giovanna, Jeikson, Jack, Rocco, Elena, James, Henry and Sophia.

Visitation will be held on Friday, April 19, 4 to 7pm, at Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Rd., WAYLAND, MA. Family and friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass on Saturday, April 20, 10:30am, at St. Ann Church, 124 Cochituate Rd., Wayland, MA.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation on Dodie’s behalf to the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, at

bgcb.org/donate. For more information about services, please visit www.jcbryantfuneralhome.com