Dolores Joan (Kosloski) McCulloch, 70, of North Hatfield gently passed away in the early morning of Wednesday, January 30, 2019 after a short, but determined fight with ovarian cancer. The day before her passing she was surrounded by a constant stream of family and friends, but waited for the quiet of the wee hours to leave us. A notorious insomniac, we would like to think that she was dreaming of drinking a coffee and reading one of her true crime novels at the kitchen table as she passed.

Born August 8, 1948 to the late Stanley and Angelina (Battistoni) Kosloski, she grew up on farms in Leverett and Hadley and was a graduate of Hopkins Academy in Hadley. After graduation she went to work at UMass Dining Commons as a cook. It was while she was at UMass that she met Bill McCulloch. Bill and Dolores wed on October 19, 1974 and made their home first in Williamsburg, then in Ashfield where they raised their two children Rebecca & Eric.

After having Eric in 1979, she left UMass for several years and took other jobs including as a cook at the former Villa in Plainfield, as a Nurses Aide at the former Sunny Acres Nursing Home in Williamsburg, and briefly ran a small daycare out of her Ashfield home. Always a hard worker, she returned to UMass Dining Services in 1994, and continued to work there full-time until the spring of 2018; she would have continued working if her health had not intervened.

Simply known as “Sister” to her siblings and parents, she was “Mama” to her UMass family, and “Dee Dee” to most everyone else. With her wicked sense of humor she found joy in the people around her and showed it with bluster and teasing. If she harassed you she loved you, it was as simple as that, and her favorite sparring partner was her brother-in-law Dave.

Dee Dee enjoyed playing poker and gin-rummy with her family, and passed many hours in her last months playing with either her sister Barbara, or Eric. She liked to travel, taking road trips to Arkansas to visit family, and especially to Maine with her sister Barbara, and close friend Donna Stanley. Late in life she overcame her fear of flying expanded her love of travel beyond road trips. In 2014 she took the trip of a lifetime to Italy with her sisters Suzy and Barbara, and their cousin Joanne; and in 2017 she and Barbara went to Washington to visit their Aunt Dolores. What truly made her happy though, was spending time with her grandchildren Liam and Sage. Whether it was Sunday Brunch, a trip to Mystic Aquarium, a road trip to Santa Land, or just playing a game, she found endless joy in “her babies”.

In addition to her parents, Dee Dee was predeceased by her husband Bill in 2001, a brother Stanley, Jr in 1969, a sister Susan Zuraw in 2017, and two nephews Peter Rudzik in 1993, and Mathew Kosloski in 2005. She is survived by her children Rebecca Hillenbrand (Rick), Eric McCulloch, and grandchildren Liam and Sage Hillenbrand, all of Ashfield. She is also survived by her sister and best friend Barbara Kosloski of Hadley, brother Walter (Cindy) of Harwich, MA; brother Stephen (Mary) of Hadley, brother David of Hadley, and Sister Joyce Rudzik (Steve), of Athol, Brother-in-Law Bill Zuraw of Bernardston, her Aunt Dolores Young of Washington, and her Aunt Gladys Beaulieu of Amherst, Brother-in-law Dave McCulloch (Mary) of Goshen, and Sister-in-Law Ann McCulloch of Williamsburg. She also leaves her beloved nieces and nephews, cousins, friends and of course her extended family at UMass.

We would like to extend a special thank-you to her nieces Veronica Kosloski, and Sharon (McCulloch) Taylor who kept a close eye on Aunt Dee Dee when her health was declining. The family would also like to thank the staff at Elaine Center of Hadley, and Cooley Dickinson Hospital – especially those of the ICU and Mass General Cancer Center where she was a staff favorite and kept the nurses laughing. Your compassion and understanding made Dee Dee’s final months much easier on everyone.

As a final note – Did you know that she gave Patrick a sweater? It has a pirate on it!

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Mass General Cancer Center at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, or the Hospice of the Fisher Home in Amherst.

Calling Hours will be on Monday, February 4, 2019 from 5-8pm at Douglas Funeral Home in Amherst. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at 10am at Most Holy Redeemer in Hadley.

Burial will be at the convenience of the family later in the spring, as we all know how much Dee Dee hated the winter.