Dorothy Deal

ONANCOCK, Va., October 2, 2009 - Dorothy Deal, 89, a life-long educator who has lived fulltime on the Eastern Shore for more than 35 years, died on October 2, at the Hermitage on the Eastern Shore, where she resided since May 2002. Since 1955, she enjoyed summers and major holidays on the Eastern Shore. In 1973, she permanently relocated to the Shore when the Eastern Shore Community College (ESCC) opened. She established the college's Developmental English and Reading Program, which she headed for 13 years. The first year, she taught at the college's temporary location on Wallops Island. She retired from the ESCC faculty as an associate professor in 1986. She also was an adjunct faculty member for Old Dominion University. An active community member, she twice served as president of the Eastern Shore Chapter of AARP and frequently talked about AARP activities on WESR Radio. She also served on the board of directors that founded the Eastern Shore Association of Retarded Citizens, was an administrative volunteer for Hospice and Palliative Care of the Eastern Shore, and was an elected member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, a professional organization for women educators. She taught the 55-Alive driving course and helped teach the ASSIST, Stop Smoking Course, too. Dorothy Deal attended Craddockville United Methodist Church, where she served on the church's official board and for many years taught the Adult Sunday School Class. An active member of the United Methodist Women, she held several Eastern Shore District positions, including President. Born in Newark, N.J., she graduated from Hightstown High School. She received a bachelor's degree from Trenton State College, now the College of New Jersey, and a master's degree from Newark State College in 1967. She also was awarded a one-year fellowship by the National Science Foundation to study earth sciences at Rutgers University. She started her career teaching at Allentown and Dutch Neck high schools in Central New Jersey, and then taught sixth grade at Belmar, N.J. Elementary School in the early 1940s and again from 1957 to 1973. She became Belmar school's first learning disabilities specialist. The daughter of the late Michael and Rose Panasuk, she was predeceased by her husbands, Edward V. Patterson, Spring Lake, N.J.; and Richard E. Deal, Lt. Cmdr. USN Ret, and by her sister, Teresa P. Hrycaj, Amsterdam, N.Y. She is survived by two daughters, Helaine Patterson, Washington, D.C., and Linda Patterson, Niceville, Fla.; her granddaughter, Melissa Ann Patterson, Gainesville, Ga.; one brother, George Panasuk, Wall Township, N.J.; one sister, Alice Phillips, Tinton Falls, N.J., and 15 nieces and nephews. A Memorial Service will be held Oct. 6 at 1:30 p.m. at the Hermitage on the Eastern Shore, 23610 North Street, Onancock, Va. Interment will be private at Greenwood Cemetery in Brielle, N.J. The family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of contributions to the Eastern Shore Community College Foundation, 29300 Lankford Highway, Melfa, VA 23410 or Hospice and Palliative Care of the Eastern Shore, 165 Market Street, Suite #3, Onancock, VA 23417. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.DoughtyFuneralHome.com. Arrangements by Doughty Funeral Home, Exmore, Va.