PITTSFIELD AND FALMOUTH, Mass. – Dolores Mae (Durand) Reifschneider, 93, formerly of Pittsfield, died on Aug. 4, 2013, at her home at Heritage of Falmouth, Massachusetts.
She was born in Ladysmith, Wis., on Nov. 12, 1919, the daughter of Rose and Leon Durand. She graduated in June 1937 from Ladysmith High School with high honors. She was a legal secretary in Ladysmith and Milwaukee until her marriage to Jacob Reifschneider in 1942. During World War II she was employed in an ordinance plant run by US Rubber. After the war, she was a homemaker for 20 years. She and her husband moved to Pittsfield in 1952, where they lived for 56 years. She was employed as a medical records secretary at St. Joseph Hospital in Waterville and then as a Medical Records Technician at Sebasticook Valley Hospital in Pittsfield, from which she retired in 1982. She was an active member of St. Agnes Church of Pittsfield as a member of the Ladies’ Guild, the church choir, and as a teacher of catechism classes. She was active in the Boy Scouts as a den mother, and assisted with Girl Scouts as well. An avid reader, she volunteered at the Pittsfield Public Library for a number of years after her retirement.
Her husband Jacob died in 2008. Following his death, she moved to Falmouth, Mass., to be closer to family members. She was predeceased by her daughter-in-law, Barbara Poulin Reifschneider, who died in November 2012.
Dolores leaves her four children, Ellen Reifschneider and her husband, Michael Sikora, of Green Bay, Wis., John Reifschneider of Carolina Beach, N.C., Sue Ball and her husband, Lary, of North Falmouth, Mass., and David Reifschneider and his wife, Martha, of Silver Spring, Md., and Woolwich. She also leaves her seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, Erik Sikora of Madison, Wis., Erin Sikora, his wife, Christine, and their daughters, Paige and Alana of Howard, Wis., Kevin Reifschneider, his wife, Heather, and their daughters, Corbin and Sydney of Raleigh, N.C., Tobin Reifschneider, his wife, Christina, and their daughters, Skylar and Emerson of Sharpsburg, Ga., Laurel Ball Plume and her husband, Benjamin, of Silver Spring, Md., Trevor Ball of North Falmouth, Mass., and Nicholas Reifschneider of Silver Spring, Md.
A visitation will be held 10-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at Shorey-Nichols Funeral Home, 191 Hartland Ave., Pittsfield, followed by a Mass of Christian burial held 11 a.m. at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 238 Detroit St., Pittsfield. Burial will immediately follow at Village Cemetery, Peltoma Avenue, Pittsfield. Should friends desire, memorial donations may be made in her memory to St. Agnes Catholic Church, 238 Detroit St., Pittsfield, ME, 04967; or Sebasticook Valley Hospital, 447 Main St., Pittsfield, ME, 04967.
Care has been provided by Shorey-Nichols Funeral Home, Pittsfield. To leave a message of kindness for the family, please visit www.shoreynichols.com.
Dolores Mae (Durand) Reifschneider
