Doris "Dee" Carroll

Born Doris Callahan of Silver Lake in 1937, Dee and her late sister Geraldine Callahan LiGreci were part of a large Irish family on Staten Island’s North Shore. As a young girl, she enjoyed the days at The Cromwell Center where she briefly played girls basketball only to find she wasn't athletic after all. Instead, Dee signed up for the classes Cromwell offered in sewing, dancing & home economics. With a twinkle in her eye, she admitted “The most fun was hanging out with the girls and looking over at the boys.”

Life wasn’t always as innocent and carefree as the days of her youth at The Cromwell Center. Years later, as a single mother with two sons, Thomas and Bob, Dee worked at the newly opened Verrazano Nursing Home caring for four elderly aunts who resided there while traveling back and forth via mass transportation. Dee also joined Parents Without Partners Inc. of Staten Island in 1965 and became President. Under her leadership, she created summer camp opportunities for children of single parents. She was a member of that organization for 15 years. Dee’s day job at the Verrazano Nursing Home skilled nursing facility turned into a career spanning 37 years. She began as an assistant in the recreation department and advanced to the Director of Recreation. Dee Carroll is recognized as a pioneer in the field of Recreational Therapy which is now an integral part of skilled nursing care and a degree program since the 1960s. In this role, Dee joined many professional organizations to improve upon the recreational departments in nursing homes and thus the quality of life of the residents.

Through additional adversities such as the loss of her son Tom in 2004 in a skydiving accident and the loss of her sister Gerri LiGreci to cancer in 2007, she persevered with charitable work, becoming a founding member of the Soroptimist International of Manhattan (SIM) in 1998 and the Staten Island North Star Lions Club Inc. in 2007. She was the recipient of countless awards and recognitions.

Dee is preceded in death by her loving son Thomas, sister Gerri Callahan LiGreci and nephew Kenneth LiGreci.

She is survived by her son Robert, her nephew and nieces and their families Gary (Liz) LiGreci, Lynne LiGreci-Mangini (Douglas), the family of the late Kenneth LiGreci, Brian (Kathy) Grieco, godson Alan Grieco (Veronica Gambon), Laura (Anthony) Pistilli and Jeffrey Grieco. In addition to her family, Dee leaves behind many devoted friends.

Visiting is on Wednesday, July 26, 2023 from 2 pm to 5 pm with service thereafter at Harmon Funeral Home, 571 Forest Avenue, Staten Island, NY 10310

In lieu of flowers, we kindly ask that donations be made in Dee Carroll’s memory to the clubs she cared so much about:

• Soroptimist International of Manhattan (SIM).

Checks should be made payable to “Soroptimists International of Manhattan” and the MEMO line should say some form of “I/M/O Dee Carroll”

Mail to:

S.I.M.

c/o Eileen Jackson

58-47 41 Drive

Woodside, NY 11377

• The North Star Lions Club of Staten Island

Checks should be made payable to: The North Star Lions Club of Staten Island and the MEMO line should say some form of “I/M/O Dee Carroll”

Mail to:

North Star Lions Club

C/o Olivia Quin

85A Seldin Loop

Staten Island, NY 10303