Thomas J. Dorsey

Dorsey, Thomas J. Thomas J. Dorsey, 85, of West Hartford, husband of Ruth Taft Dorsey, died quietly in his sleep on Monday April 11, 2005 in his own home in the company of his loving family, who had cared for him during his last four peaceful days. He had been a kidney dialysis patient for over four years. Born and raised in the Parkville Section of Hartford, the son of Irish immigrants, Thomas and Delia McManus Dorsey, he was a graduate of Hartford Public High School class of 1939. After graduation he had the initiative to continue his education by taking correspondence courses in radio while also working in the purchasing department of the Aetna Life Insurance Company. He was one of the few to be drafted into the Army in the summer of 1941, four months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. With his radio training, and a bit of luck, he was assigned to the Signal Corps, where he soon became a radar instructor. Radar was then a high priority, top secret military technology; the U.S. government actually spent more on its development than it did on the development of the atomic bomb. After the war, he used his experience to become an apprentice electrician at Haselton Electric, and soon rose to be its president and co-owner. In the late sixties, Haselton Electric designed and installed the lighting system for the night time illumination of the dome of the State Capital Building. Tom was a communicant at St. Helena Church in West Hartford and was a life member of the Knights of Columbus. He was also a life member of the American Legion. In his retirement, Tom was able to enjoy many long vacations with his wife Ruth. He was also active in the Fernleigh Lawn Bowling Club and was a volunteer for many years with the West Hartford Meals on Wheels program. Tom is survived by his loving wife of almost fifty four years, Ruth Taft, his sons Robert of Durham, NC; Paul of Hartford; and James and his wife Pat Sullivan of Smithfield, RI, and their children Aaron and Shelby Thomas. Also survived by a nephew Robert King of Wilbraham, MA, and a niece Anne Marie Dooley and her husband James of Enfield, their two daughters Lori and Katie, a grand nephew Dennis King of Bristol, and grand nieces Martha Waters of Kennebunk, ME, and Maureen King of Springvale, ME. In addition to his parents, Tom was predeceased by his sisters Anna Dorsey, Mary King, Katherine McAllen and Margaret Dorsey; his brothers James and Joseph and one nephew Thomas King. Calling hours will be Thursday April 14, from 6-8 p.m. at the Molloy Funeral Home, 906 Farmington Ave., West Hartford. Funeral services will be Friday with a procession at 9:15 a.m. from the funeral home with a mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. in the Church of St. Helena, West Hartford. Burial will follow at Mt. St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield.

Thomas J. Dorsey

April 12, 2005