Name: Vernon C. Wagner Funeral Homes
Address: Hicksville, NY

I remember countless happy  visits to the Hicksville Mulligan family that always bring a smile to my face. Aunt Dot was always the center of every visit.

Aunt Dot was one of the most upbeat and cheerful members of the Coombs family. Even when she would get upset at something Jack had done or if Jay, Gerry, Jacki or Tricia had done something to get her upset it never lasted more a few moments. When I think of her a smile always comes to my face. She always remembered my birthday with a card and I am chagrined at how long she did that. When I spoked with her once and mentioned she did not need to  send them she simply smiled and changed the subject. A headstrong but classy lady.

Dave

I have only just learned of the passing of Dot.  She and her family, Jack, Jay, Gerry, Jackie, Tricia, and of course Shiney were our next door neighbors in Hicksville.  Dot was a wonderful woman and good friend to my Mom and Dad.  She loved to tell me how I used to climb the backyard fence to pet Shiney.  Such great memories of a woman who was so kind.  When her family would come visit from the city, she always made sure I knew they were coming.  I treasured them as some of my first friends, Sandy, Janny, Tommy, and Jeannie.  
Dot and Jack were the best neighbors anyone could ask for.  Her family and friends are surely missing her but she’ll always be  them and living on in her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews.  Love to all.
Susie

Where do I begin.  Dot and Jack were our next door neighbor since 1948.  I was all of 2 and my brother was not born yet.  They gave me my first pair of roller skates took me in and treated me as one of their own.  Jack helped my dad build our garage and dad helped him do his.  We didn't have a car but Jack did.  He took all the ladies grocery shopping.  They were family.  Just a few years back I went to Long Island for a friends mothers funeral and stayed with Dot.  We had lots of laughs.  The friends mother that passed was one of her friends who she knew from from Hells Kitchen in Manhattan, Rose Younghans.  Dot had dated Harry Younghans and Rose had dated Jack before each had met each other true loves.  I am truly sorry I did not learn of Dot's passing until now.  I am going to miss her greatly, but I do have all of our cherished memories, and I am so thankful to her as she introduced me to my very best friend Eileen Younghans.  We met as babies really and now she lives a mile away from me here in Florida.  I will always be grateful for that and for having both her and Jack in my life.

Oh where to begin, so many wonderful memories of living in Hicksville with my Aunt Dot and Uncle Jack (and Shiney) when I was 4 and 5 years old. The backyard was a wonderland to me-the magnificent peach tree, the raspberry bushes, the pussy willows, the lightning bugs, the hammock-just heaven to a city kid. The Bungalow Bar ice cream truck and drive in movies wearing pj’s with a packed cooler in the summer, trick or treating and riding bikes throughout the neighborhood in the Fall, Santa visiting  each house with gifts at Christmastime, and cannot forget the green mashed potatoes on St Patrick’s Day in the Spring. Watching Roy Rogers giddy up on the TV, and shedding a tear to the adventures of Lassie. What a warm and loving home my siblings and I we were welcomed into for a couple of years. Thank you Aunt Dot - may you rest in the afterlife with your long overdue reunion with your husband, as well as your parents, siblings, and friends. Your
loving niece, Janny

Lots of Memories too many to list at Dot's house in Hicksville. 
Especially at Christmas time when I was young. 
Love you Dot and enjoy your tea parties with Mom and Sisters in 
Heaven.

Love Barbie and Tony

Jay, Gerry, Jackie and Trish:  I will always remember your mother as one of the most cheerful, caring and optimistic people I have ever  known. I was always amazed  at her memory and recall ability when I would make a phone call to her. She always displayed a young at heart attitude and family meant everything to her. I remember she sent me a 50th birthday card and when I called to thank her she told me stories that went back to my years when I lived in the Bronx with Mom and Dad.
I know Dick , Tim and I have great memories of our trips to Hicksville  about a 4 mile drive as you know from East Meadow and how the four of you created a lot of great stories for her to share with all of us.
What a wonderful person your  Mom was and Lin and I are better people for having known her . Our deepest sympathy  but she is in a better place now and I  am sure having a grand time with Pop, Grandma, Eleanor, Helen, Margaret,Jimmy and Dad along with the family outlaws and extended family members. She can now rule the roost again as the oldest sibling.

Love Dave and Lin

For Helen and I, Hicksville was vacationland in the 1950s and 60s, being able to leave the city for a few days, or even a week.  I can still feel the joy of waiting on 57th St and 9th Ave for the maroon car with a floorboard turning the corner to pick us up— drive-in movies in PJs, camping overnight in the yard, summer strolls to the candy store, walking Shiney on a leash and being mesmerized by his habit of scraping his back feet nails on the cement after peeing, swinging in the green and white hammock, eating sweet peaches from their peach tree and raspberries from ‘over the fence’, productions at Jones Beach Theater, and the warmest smiles and hugs from Dot and Jack, always.  Dot bravely carried on in the 70s raising their four successful children, all the while hosting picnics, Christmas Eve Santa, and parties for all the Coombs family. You sure can do a lot in 98 years and she didn’t waste a minute.  For decades, every newborn in the family was wrapped in one of her pastel crocheted  blankets and many still have them as keepsakes.  Generosity to all of us, with love and everything she had. What a roll model and what a legacy she leaves us with— all those Mulligans! 

Aunt Dot was like a second mother to me and my sisters for the two years we lived in Hicksville. My mom worked in the city during the week and spent weekends in Hicksville with us. I remember Jack and Dot driving  us to the train station on Friday night to meet my mom as she arrived on the LIRR. I remember having a loving place to live at an unsettled time of my young life, having freedom to roam the neighborhood, learning to ride a bike, learning to stand on my head, losing my two front baby teeth on a makeshift see saw and eating spinach,even if I hated it. Dot and Jack always made us feel wanted and loved. Our great extended Coombs family was a great strength, Dot being a big part of it and she will be missed by all who knew her love and care.

My Dear Aunt Dot was like a second mother. She took us into her home and heart for two happy years of love and laughter. I learned the hokie pokie, the bunny hop, and the lindy hop from someone who danced with soldiers during the war, with my Uncle Jack, and then at the VA. 
 Her spirit and fun will never die. 
 

 

We were all so fortunate to grow up in a loving and supportive family like the Coombs family. Dorothy was a big part of it. Our hearts, sympathy, prayers and love go out to Jay, Gerry,  Jackie and Tricia , their spouses and all the grand and great grandchildren of Dot. Find comfort in each other and in Dot's love and pride she had for all of you. We wish our words could take away the sadness of your loss, but know that only time and cherished memories of Dot will do that. We will always remember her and miss her greatly.
                                                                             Janet and Billy ( Boo boo) Collins

Aunt Dot was a special aunt to my family and I.   Living so close to her in my early days, I probably saw Aunt Dot more than any other of my relatives growing up.   Family meant so much to Aunt Dot.   Before social media, she also was the hub of communications for our greater Coombs family.   She loved to learn of a family scoop, an engagement, a marriage proposal or "I'm pregnant" announcement.   Over the decades until just a few years ago, I could always count on receiving a birthday card and a Christmas card each year from her with a note about the latest news concerning her children.   I loved receiving each card.   I will always remember Aunt Dot driving up to our house in East Meadow in her old Volkswagen Bus with more than a few kids hanging out the windows!   And it was never Christmas without a trip to Aunt Dot's house to welcome the neighborhood Santa coming in to deliver a toy for all of the kids.   She never missed a family celebration for any reason.   A wonderful person, with a bubbly personality.   And I will always hear her infectious laugh in my mind.   She loved everyone, especially all family members.   We will miss you Aunt Dot.   Thanks for being such a big part of my life!   Rest in Peace!   Love,  Dick Coombs

OBITUARY

Dorothy M. Mulligan

15 February, 1922 – 1 December, 2020

Vernon C. Wagner Funeral Homes

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