Dolores Harrison

Dolores Gertrude Dolan was born on September 27,1927, to Frances and John Patrick Dolan. She was the youngest of four children: Albert (Al) Frances, (Fran) and John (Jack). Like so many others of what we now call “The Greatest Generation,” both of Dolores's brothers served in the U.S. military during WWII and her sister served as a Navy Wave. She was also a gifted athlete who played on the New Jersey State tennis and field hockey teams.

Just after graduating from Woodbury High, Class of 1945, Dolores joined New Jersey Bell. Because she was left-handed, she was unable to work the switchboard: she was placed in the Accounting Department. One day, her immediate supervisor, Bill Harrison Sr., asked Dolores if she had a brother and sister named Al and Fran. When she replied, "Yes," he asked if he could drive her home and say hello. That would become their first date.

They were married in 1947, and moved to Almonesson, NJ. On April 13, 1953, William (Bill) Harrison Jr. was born; two years later, his brother John followed (May 24, 1955).

In 1962. The family moved to a new housing development in Morrisville, PA that was popular with several other Jersey Bell employees. The boys attended the Pennsbury school system. In her later years, Dolores began working in the school system's cafeteria and afterward, the school's library centers from which she retired. In her spare time, she liked to knit, sew, and work in her summer garden.

After the boy's graduation from Pennsbury High School, Bill later graduated from Rider College and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Where he served at various army bases as a Helicopter pilot. He later transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard flying Search and Rescue missions before retiring as a LCDR. John attended Bucks County Community College and found work at NBC, working in HR, and then as a member of the technical crews on Saturday Night Live, the Donohue Show and the Today Show, before retiring.

After Bill Sr. retired from the phone company in 1981, he and Dolores travelled, to several states such as Alaska to see the Northern Lights, and to various cities in Florida, California, Washington, and Georgia. They both loved meeting new people and exploring different states, communities, and lifestyles.

An avid knitter, she made hundreds of hats for infants, as part of a program at St. Ignatius' church in Yardley, PA. After she moved to Brooklyn, NY, her hats were sold at the local thrift shop.

Dolores was predeceased by her husband William Sr. in 2010, her brother Albert and his wife Eleanor, sister Frances and her husband Wayne, her brother Jack and his wife Jean, nephews Michael and Joseph Dolan and niece Susan Shamka.

She is survived by her son, William Jr., his wife Margo, their six children Ursula, Major William III USAF, with his wife LTC Laren USAF, and her three great-grandchildren (Lillian, Corrie, and Clair) Frederick, Sean and his wife Courtney, Kirk, and Joseph. She is also survived by her son John, his wife Ginny, and their son Zachary, and nieces and nephews David Dolan, Kate Brown, Tommy Dolan, and Anne Norvilla, John Dolan, James Dolan, Edward Harrison Jr, their spouses and children.

Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday August 22, 2026, in the St. Ignatius Cemetery located on River Road in Yardley, PA. The family asks those attending to please wear brightly colored clothes as Dolores loved color. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be offered to the Aid for Friends at St. Ignatius, 999 Reading Ave Yardley, PA 19067. 

Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. Arrangements are under the direction of the J. Allen Hooper Funeral Chapel Morrisville, PA.