Dolores (Dee) Peters

Dolores (Dee) Peters, 87, of West Hartford, died peacefully on January 26, 2023, in the comfort of her home and surrounded by those she loved and those who loved her. Born in Norwich, CT, Dee was the middle child of Martin and Bernice Jello and part of a large extended Ukrainian and Polish family. She attended schools in Bozrah and Norwich, CT and graduated from Norwich Free Academy. As a child, Dee was feisty and brave, curious and mischievous, and as a seven-year-old yearned to be an ambulance driver during World War II. In lieu of that option, her second choice was to be a teacher. She received a BS in Elementary Education from Eastern Connecticut Teachers College and an MS in Special Education from Central Connecticut Teachers College. While simultaneously raising her family, she spent seven years as a long-term substitute and then four years as an elementary and special education teacher in Wethersfield and Rocky Hill. She also continued her post-graduate education at Lesley College, University of Minnesota, Boston College and the University of Kansas. One outcome of her academic exploration was her abiding belief that all Higher Education professionals needed to be practitioners as well. Dee joined the faculty at St Joseph College, West Hartford, CT, in 1972 and brought that philosophy with her, where it became infused in the graduate and undergraduate special education programs offered at the time. In her thirty plus years at St Joe’s, Dee served on a multitude of State Department of Education committees, task forces, development projects, served as an on-going consultant to a number of school districts, and presented at numerous district and statewide conferences. In 1983 Dee and Dolores Woodward co-authored The Learning Disabled Adolescents: Learning Success in the Content Areas – a text for special education scholars. Dee retired from St Joseph College in 2002 after becoming an Associate Professor, Chairperson of her department and division and, finally, the Certification Officer, a job well suited to her personality. In this capacity she advised transferring students on credits accepted, rejected planned programs, and in some cases talked students in and out of majors. What made Dee notable was her investment in those she cared for. Through support, mentoring, guidance, hectoring and sometimes a swift boot, she encouraged students, teachers and friends to assume risks, take advantage of new opportunities and adopt changing roles. Many of those individuals have stayed in contact with Dee over the years and have remarked on the positive and lasting impact Dee made on their lives. Dee was fun and funny. She loved parties and threw many—her children’s weddings are still talked about as events of the year. She loved Martha’s Vineyard and the Connecticut shore and was known for her frequent, informal gatherings of friends and family during those summer months. More recently, during her well-attended late afternoon gatherings in Mexico, San Diego and West Hartford, she always made sure the conversation and Sauvignon Blanc (with ice) flowed smoothly. The St Joe’s nuns loved Dee in spite of the fact that she rousted them out of bed one night with lights flashing and alarms blaring when she was having a quick, secret cigarette on the porch of the convent under the smoke detector. In the 80s, Geraldine Ferraro was the democratic vice- presidential candidate running alongside Walter Mondale. Geraldine had the good fortune to bear a striking resemblance to Dee who took every opportunity to burnish Geraldine’s image with voters with a big smile and a wave. Dee was predeceased by her parents, Martin and Bernice, and her brother, Butch. She is survived by her three children: Patricia Peters-Herrera (George), Michael Peters, and Kelly Peters Daly (Joseph); five grandchildren: Kellen and Kyle Herrera, Michael Luke Peters and Matthew and Drew Daly; her three great-grandchildren: Cloie Lagardere, Brooke Herrera and Blake Herrera; and her two beloved “adopted” grandchildren: David and Mya Colon. Dee is also survived by her sister Kathleen Arnold, nephew Charles Martin Arnold (Jennifer), grand-nephew Jason Arnold and sister-in-law Barbara Jello. She will be greatly missed. A Celebration of Life will be held for close family and friends.