Dolores Krumeich, who celebrated 100 years on November 3, died peacefully at home on December 23, 2021, having lived for the past seven years with her daughter Terry in Stockton, New Jersey.

“Doree” always loved horses. Growing up in Kearny, NJ didn’t offer many opportunities to ride, but as a teen she and friends frequented stables in then-rural Perth Amboy. Purchasing jodhpurs with earned money revealed the sense of independence and strength that permeated her life.

Coming of age during WWII, Doree worked in manu­facturing, so prominent then in NJ; and despite the seemingly impossible stretch for less-than-five-foot Doree, she became a telephone switchboard operator when the interviewer repeatedly exclaimed, “I’ve GOT to have that voice”!

As did many young women during WWII, Doree married a service­man. She followed Hank to rural Michigan and they began their life together. Not long after, Doree was forced to draw on the strength that epitomized her character when her young husband died in a tragic accident two days after Christmas 1949. Doree’s mother helped her move back to Kearny with her five- and two-year-old sons and three-month-old daughter.

Sometime later, mutual friends matched Doree and long-time bachelor Frank Krumeich for a blind date. Frank fell in love with Doree and the kids. Doree’s mother and grandmother both heartily approved of Frank. Frank and Doree married, moved to Edison, NJ, and added two daughters to their ready-made family.

Dolores retired from Revlon in Edison NJ after twenty seven years, working first on the assembly line then as conveyor head, as quality control inspector, and union shop steward. In 1989, she and Frank moved to horse country, Ocala, FL. A social butterfly, Dolores easily made friends and continued to enjoy her favorite pasttimes: bowling, bingo, and casino trips with friends.

Dolores’s love of children was obvious and reciprical. Hundreds are the little ones whose tiny bodies were warmed by the hooded sweaters Dolores crocheted, sometimes overnight, for the newborns of friends, family, friends of friends, moms-to-be at crisis centers, and more. Her generousity and kindness were deeply appreciated. People gravitated to Dolores and many considered her to be their adopted mother. She was warmly embraced, genuinely loved, and is deeply missed.

Dolores was laid to rest in Ocala, FL with her husband Frank, who predeceased her on March 19, 2004, their 53rd wedding anniversary. A memorial service for Dolores is scheduled on Saturday, March 19, 2022, 1pm at Old Rocks Church, 260 Mt Airy-Harbourton Road, Lambertville, NJ with a reception immediately following in Fellowship Hall.

To those who wish to honor Dolores, please consider sending a donation to Stockton Wesleyan Church, P.O. Box 184, Stockton, NJ 08559, or New Life Riders, P.O. Box 143, Ringoes, NJ. Please note: “Dolores Krumeich” on the memo line.

Arrangements in New Jersey were under the care and direction of Wright & Ford Family Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 38 State Highway 31, Flemington, NJ.

You are encouraged to visit Dolores’s permanent life celebration site at www.wrightfamily.com to light a candle of hope, leave messages of condolence, share words of comfort and recollection, and post photographs of her life.

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Wright & Ford, your local, family owned & operated “Life Celebration Home”