Dolores Frances Klein

Dolores Frances Klein

February 26, 1934 – August 13, 2024

Dolores Frances Klein, age 90, passed away peacefully on August 13, 2024, at her home, surrounded by her loving daughters and granddaughter, Gianna.

Dolores was born on February 26, 1934, in Union City, New Jersey, to Anthony and Antoinette (Capone) Marinco. Her mother passed away when she was very young. When Dolores was nine years old her father married Rose Bartola ,who was an amazing mother to her and gave her two brothers. She was raised in Union City and graduated Emerson High School in June of 1952, after which she worked for the telephone company as a secretary. She met Peter Vullo, a handsome Navy veteran, in the summer of 1954, and they married on September 18, 1955. They lived in Clifton, New Jersey, and raised four daughters, Joann, Karen, Susan, and Maria who were their pride and joy. Although they entered marriage with the best of intentions it was less permanent than expected. Dolores worked as a nurse’s aide when her daughters were little and then as Office Manager for Mitchell Mechanical, an architectural firm, and lastly for the Building and Sites Division of the Paterson New Jersey Diocesan Center.

In 2004, she raged and won a valiant fight against stage-three colon cancer, remaining optimistic, courageous, and inspirational throughout. It was that illness that brought her to Omaha, where she met and fell in love with Donald Klein (Donny). They married in 2005 and beautifully blended their families. They were sixteen years together before Donny passed. They enjoyed their second home in Florida, loved to travel, go out to dinner, and host family gatherings at their home.

At an early age, Dolores’s artistic talent was evident. She loved to draw and paint. Local businesses would hire her to decorate store front windows for events and holidays. Later she discovered China Painting and created stunning objets d’art. She was an excellent cook and loved sharing her delicious recipes and entertaining friends and family. She also loved ballroom dancing, interior decorating, party planning, flower arranging, fashion, and animals–especially dogs.

Dee excelled at fashion and was very glamorous. Even throughout her year-long ordeal fighting colon cancer she never missed a day putting on make-up and getting dressed. For years, when the subject of funerals/coffins was raised she would remind us she wanted a closed casket since no one could do her hair and make-up as good as she could. Once Catholics could be cremated, she was so relieved!

Even at 90 years old she had regular manicures and sported gorgeous long lavender fingernails with matching toenail polish. Gianna is wearing that color on her toes today.  Dee always had a weekly hair appointment when her girls were young, and that routine never changed.  In the 60’s her weekly hair appointments were for elaborate up-dos. Ever one for keeping up with the times, we remember the day she came home from her up-do appointment with a pixie cut and false eyelashes ala Twiggy! We could only stand there and gape at her wondering where did our mom go? That cut and those lashes became her trademark.

She modeled in fashion shows for the Star Art Gallery and Boutique in Florida. She liked nothing better than to go shopping, put you in a dressing room and find you things to try on. She’d run back and forth to the dressing room with different sizes or colors that she thought would suit you.  Joann will tell you that there are many pieces in her closet that she would never have even tried on if she wasn’t shopping with Dee. Dee just had a knack. She loved dressing her girls in matching outfits when they were little. It didn’t hurt that her mother-in-law was an expert seamstress and would take yards of fabric that Dee picked out and turn it into dresses for the girls, a matching dress for Dee, and a shirt for their Dad, Pete. It gave her great pleasure to “dress up.” Her husband, Donny, loved that about her and was very proud of her.

Dee loved interior decorating for herself and others. She would walk into a room and if she knew you well, she would not hesitate to ask if she could help you rearrange furniture, change artwork around or suggest adding/subtracting decorative items. Then she would offer to take you shopping to find just the right items that would “pop” and complete the room’s look. Dolores loved shopping for pretty things and loved HomeGoods, estate sales and antique dealers. She always did beautiful holiday decorations and loved setting a pretty table for holidays, but also for every-day.

Growing up the family had numerous pets, parakeets, turtles, gerbils, and Tramp, our rescue puppy. The Easter Bunny brought chicks one year which did not end well for them and another year there were two bunnies, supposedly, two males which rapidly turned into many bunnies. Dolores cared for all these pets as she cared for us but it was only when Boomer, a miniature Schnauzer, came into her life that she truly fell in love with a pet, or as we refer to him, our furry brother.

In more recent years she and her best friend and next-door neighbor, Beverly, combined their yards with an underground electric fence so that their dogs could easily go between the two houses. Two houses away, another neighbor, Claudia, would call to tell Dee that Abby, her dog, would like to visit so Dee would wait by her front door and Claudia would then open her door and Abby would run over and into Dee’s house. Ostensibly, this was so Boomer and Abby could play but we all knew that Abby was fonder of Dee than of Boomer. Boomer was her constant devoted companion. Together they visited hospitals to bring joy and lighten sad days for others.

Dolores was a discerning woman of exquisite taste, beautiful and charming, with a natural grace and poise about her. She always put the needs of others before her own. She was a wonderful caretaker, intuitive beyond measure, a remarkably loving mother and grandmother, and a great friend to many.

Dolores is survived by daughters, Joann Rogers, stepchildren, James and Janell; Karen Memmel, and daughter, Gianna, Maria Vullo, partner, Corina, and son, Brody); brothers, Kenneth (Debra) and Ronald Marinco; stepdaughters, Stephani (husband, Jim, and children, Libby and Sid) Tikalsky, and Vicki Klein (children, Taylor and Mitchell); son-in-law, Noe Perez; and nine great-grandchildren. Dolores was predeceased by her parents; her daughter, Susan (Vullo) Perez; her son-in-law, John Rogers; Peter Vullo; and Donald Klein.

Memorials are kindly suggested to the Nebraska Humane Society, American Cancer Society or Peaceful Hearts Hospice.

MEMORIAL SERVICE: Saturday, August 24^th at 1:00 p.m. , West Center Chapel, 7805 West Center Rd., VISITATION begins at 12:00 noon.

Private Interment, Evergreen Memorial Park.

To view a live broadcast of the Service, please visit www.heafeyheafey.com and click the “Live Cast” button at the top of the home page.