Dorothy Catherine (Kuropatwa) Paulits

Dorothy Catherine Kuropatwa Paulits, who was the central person in her family’s life, a beloved and loving mom and “mommom,” who worked tirelessly in factories and later at her own business, died April 25, 2025 after a long fight against cancer. She was 87.

Born in Philadelphia and raised in the Port Richmond section, Dorothy was the oldest of six siblings. One of her fondest memories was going with her dad John to the farm where he worked in Phoenixville. On the farm, she was the only person who could approach a belligerent bull – the beginning of a lifelong practice of tackling difficult circumstances while making it look easy.

She loved her Polish heritage, which she shared with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Just as she was close to her own Babcia, she passed on chrusciki and golumpki recipes to her loved ones.

She was a devoted Catholic, attending Mass weekly and holding her faith close to her heart even as it was tested with the heartbreaking loss of her two daughters.

In June 1955 she married William J. Paulits Sr., who died in 2023. Together they had three children, William Joseph, Kathleen Mary and Karen Ann. Dorothy was Bill’s “honey,” and she loved him to the end. “Always be truthful to your spouse. And he should be truthful to you,” she said recently reflecting on her marriage. “I think Pop and I were always truthful.”

That didn’t mean Bill knew the right way to pack the trunk of the car on weekly trips to their trailer at the Jersey Shore, or that he could keep the house as tidy as she always wanted. “Come off it!” she’d say when she’d had enough of his “help.”

She was close to all her children and especially so with her son who cared for her at the end of her life. She forever carried heartache over the loss of Karen in 1992 and Kathleen in 2013.

She was tough and hardworking. To make ends meet for her young family she toiled evenings as a line worker at the Keebler cookie factory in Philadelphia and later at Jacquin's Spirits and the Stetson hat factory. She always kept Keebler cookies for her grandchildren and later for her great-grandchildren, who called them “mommom” cookies. (She liked them too.)

She was a strong leader and a no-nonsense person, but warm, kind and welcoming. She made guests and friends of friends feel at home.

She had the neatest handwriting anyone’s ever seen.

For more than two decades until 2013 when Dorothy was 76, she and her daughter-in-law Belynda operated a cleaning business, becoming close with many of their clients. It was the freedom to make her own schedule – and the extra money– that let Dorothy and Bill enjoy a meal and a glass of wine at a restaurant in their senior years together.

She adored the Jersey shore and had many happy years at her and her husband’s place deep in the Cape May County pines, taking her grandkids to play bingo and swim by the campground’s pool. She packed peanut butter and peach jelly sandwiches for trips to the Sea Isle City beach. She liked to wade in the ocean but never swam.

She could chat with friends and family. For hours. Bread and butter was her bread and butter. For years, she’d make a carafe of black coffee and drink it throughout the day. She quit smoking “cold turkey” after decades of the habit. She loved the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia Phillies. She didn’t love unkempt beards or muzzies, as she called mustaches. Gents take their hats off inside, Mommom would say.

Her family was at the center of her life – and she was at the center of theirs. She hosted Christmas Eve every year as well as other holiday parties well into her 80s. She never really asked for much help. It was “no biggie, no biggie” she’d said while organizing, cooking and tidying up. Her door was always open, and she loved when her family popped in on her. At Easter, for years, she made her own chocolates: cream and peanut butter-stuffed eggs, crosses and lambs. She was talented at crochet, making everything from holiday ornaments like Easter chicks and jack o’lanterns to elaborate throw blankets.

In addition to her son William and daughter-in-law Belynda, Dorothy is survived by her grandchildren Jamie Rupert (Shawn), Megan Ott (Travis), Michael Catalini (Jacquelyn) and Jenna Catalini (Jon). She adored her great-grandchildren: Lucy, Violet, Piper, Jack and Owen, whom she looked after at every chance she got and said at the end of her life she’d miss. She loved Journey, prince of dogs, and before him Fee-Fee, the toy poodle. Her brothers Anthony (Henrietta) and John Kuropatwa, and Tommy Paulits also survive her.

She was predeceased by her loyal husband Bill, beloved daughters Kathleen and Karen, her parents and her brother Henry and sister Dolores.

A viewing for Dorothy will be held Wednesday, April 30, 2025 from 9:30 AM to 10:20 AM at James J. Dougherty Funeral Home, Inc., 2200 Trenton Rd, Levittown, Pennsylvania 19056, with her eulogy at 10:20 AM. Her funeral mass will follow at 11:00 AM at Queen of the Universe, 2443 Trenton Rd, Levittown, Pennsylvania 19056. She will be laid to rest alongside her beloved Bill at 12:30 PM at Our Lady of Grace Cemetery, 1215 Super Highway, Langhorne, Pennsylvania 19047.

Before she died she said she wanted her family to know: “I love yous all. I just want yous all to be happy. Now you gotta find a way.”