Dorothy Mosier

By Amanda Mayo

Dorothy Mosier, a longtime resident of Hewlett who dedicated much of her life to helping the blind, passed away on February 29 at the age of 83.

Mosier was born in Inwood on Burnside Avenue and lived there for 17 years. She married her next-door-neighbor and childhood sweetheart, Charles Mosier, in 1946 and the couple moved to Hewlett, where they would spend the rest of their lives.

While her husband made a name for himself with an ornamental iron business, “Distinctive Iron Craft,” Dorothy worked in the restaurant business as a waitress for 25 years and then became a school bus driver. Shortly after, she decided she wanted to volunteer for people with seeing disabilities at the Helen Keller Services for the Blind Senior Center in Hempstead, driving people to and from the center and taking them on various trips.

“She drove three people and she was full of pep all the time,” Helene Cypress, Mosier’s fellow volunteer at the Senior Center said. “She was a real feisty lady – she drove all over.”

Cheryl Wilson, Mosier’s daughter, said that Mosier was more than happy to volunteer her time at the center for senior citizens. “She would instruct them through their exercises and help serve their meals,” Wilson said. “They took a lot of trips – they took a ride to Ellis Island on the boat and they would go to museums and my mother would explain to them what they were looking at.”

Those weren’t the only activities that Mosier led her group in doing – Wilson said she also would help them sew and even call up bingo numbers for them. When Mosier began to lose her own vision over the last few years, she could no longer drive her trio into the Center. Instead, she caught a ride on the Nassau County Able-Ride bus for people with disabilities and met them at the center.

“Even though she wasn’t capable of driving them anymore, she was still able to give them help,” Wilson said. “She figured at some point in her life if she needed help someone would help her – she liked to give back to the community.”

Although Mosier had health complications in her later life, Wilson said her mother’s song and motto was “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor. “She was a goer, she was a doer,” Wilson said. “My husband used to say she was a cat with nine lives.”

Wilson also said her mother was a lover of animals, so instead of sending flowers in sympathy, people are asked to make donations to organizations that help the animals and to the Helen Keller Senior Center in Hempstead.

“She was very peppy and fun to be with,” Cypress said. “I always looked forward to seeing her on Thursdays [at the Senior Center].”

Mosier is survived by her daughter Cheryl (Bruce) Wilson, one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren. She was reposed last Sunday at Meserole Funeral Home in Inwood and buried at Greenfield Cemetery in Hempstead on Monday.