She was born December 18, 1919 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada to Arthur Edward Hogan and Annie May (Dorsey) Hogan. At the age of eight she and her family immigrated to Portland where she spent the rest of her life. She was raised in southeast Portland. She graduated from St. Stephen’s High School and worked at Montgomery Ward department store, at what is now called Montgomery Park. Later she worked at Luxury Bread on SE Stark St. for her brother-in-law, Frank
Bastasch.
In 1944 she married John T. Dolan and together they raised eight children. John started A-Boy Electric & Plumbing in 1960, and while they built the family business, Florence made raising their children her priority. All of her children attended Catholic schools and she was a member of the St. Ignatius Alter Society for many years. Nationally she is known as the petitioner in the landmark 1994 US Supreme
Court case Florence Dolan v. City of Tigard. It was a property rights case that defined the boundaries of government “takings”. Her husband, John and son, Dan started the case, and after John’s death, Florence and Dan continued the appeal to the Supreme Court. She won by a 5-4 decision. The legal standard set by that case is still law today.
Florence always had a tremendous zest for life and made the most of it. She loved good food, family, and travel. The beach was one of her favorite places. She also enjoyed gardening and flowers of all kinds, especially roses. Beside her strong faith in God, she loved her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren and her many nieces and nephews. She was the heart and soul of the family, loving and accepting of all, acting as a mother to so many beyond her own children.
In later years Florence enjoyed her frequent trips to the Oregon Coast with the family and with her nieces Teresa Wikander and Ellen Moran Wood, where they shared many good times.
She was preceded in death by her parents, all of her siblings, Mary Dolan, Arthur Hogan, Frances Bastasch, Charles Hogan, Ella Hogan, Clara Stockton, Rita Moran and Noreen Hite. She was the eighth of the nine siblings. She is survived by all her children: Deanna (Alex Belyavski), Jean, Mary (Antoine Gedeon), Dolores (David Pense), Dan (Sue Ellen Trask), Patrick (Anne Vetto), Colleen (Walter Pastore), and Sarah (Bret Barnecut), as well as her 24 grandchildren and 28 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.
A scholarship fund in the name of Florence and John Dolan has been established at St. Mary’s Academy and Central Catholic High School.
