August 25, 2021 (Laurinburg, NC) ─ Dorothy ‘Dot’ Bolger, a resident at Prestwick Village, a DePaul Senior Living Community in Laurinburg, has accomplished much in the past century. She’s most proud of raising her siblings when her parents died at a young age, as well as two sons.

“I had plenty of babysitters for my first born,” she said. “My brothers and sisters helped me raise him.”

Born in Lakewood, Ohio on August 10, 1921, Dot’s family moved to the suburbs of Cleveland where her father bought land and built a family home in a farming community. After completing high school, Dot went to work as a librarian in downtown Cleveland. Married for 61 years, she and her husband Robert Bolger, had two sons. Dot stayed home to raise them until her second son was ten years old.

She was never idle, said her daughter-in-law Selena Bolger. She was either sewing, cooking, crocheting, knitting, dancing, crafting with her shells, playing the piano, singing in the choir, or helping at church, and in her community. Dot crocheted and quilted hundreds of hats, booties, blankets and quilts for the babies in the nurseries wherever she was living at the time.

“She is so talented at sewing (before her eyesight worsened), that she could go to the store, see a suit, dress, shirt, or purse, and without a pattern she could make it at home,” said Selena. “She received many awards for her generosity and talents.”

Dot and Bob loved to travel. They went to Hawaii six times. When it came to retirement, Dot picked Florida because “it was the closest she could get to Hawaii” and “it never snows.” She and Bob enjoyed dancing, playing golf and games with many friends.

A grandmother of six and great-grandmother of four, Dot moved to Prestwick Village in December 2014 to be closer to family. Dot is known for her fast walking, piano playing and love of card games, having earned the title of “Queen of Cards.”

“It feels like home,” she said. “People treat me kindly.”

Her advice on longevity is to eat healthy, live a good clean life, laugh, love and exercise. Dot said she’s surprised to have hit the century mark.

“My daughter-in-law always tells me on each birthday that I must live another ten years,” she said of Selena. “It’s probably her fault.”

For more information about Prestwick Village, please contact Administrator Janis Carroll Walker at (910) 276-5950 at jwalker@depaul.org or visit us on Facebook.