Dorothy Timpone

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Dorothy Bruno Timpone of Grasmere, a retired registered nurse who carried on her family’s legacy of generosity as a quiet benefactor to many Staten Island charities and causes, died Thursday in Richmond University Medical Center, West Brighton. She was 98 years old.

For many years, she answered requests for help at her beloved Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta R.C. Church and parish school in West Brighton with great generosity.

With her nephew Richard Nolan, she administered the John J. Bruno Scholarship Fund, named in honor of her late brother, the legendary composing room supervisor of the Staten Island Advance, who died in 2003. The scholarship fund helps underwrite tuition costs for needy children to attend the parish school.

Mrs. Timpone was honored by Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta in 2005, at the John J. Bruno Children’s Luncheon, another fundraiser organized in her brother’s name to benefit the parish, school and children.

“We all called her ‘Aunt Dot’. She was the continuity in the family legacy of quiet giving; like her brother, a wonderful example for the children,” said Jeannine Roland, longtime principal of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta School.

MANY CAUSES

Mrs. Timpone also was dedicated to the needs of Mount Manresa Jesuit Retreat House, Fort Wadsworth, where her generosity made possible many structural improvements, including the “gatehouse” chapel, a gazebo, and an elevator in the four-story retreat residence hall.

“The evidence of her generosity is obvious. Always behind the scenes, always quietly, with no desire for publicity, she helped physically and spiritually renew Mount Manresa,” said the Rev. Jack Ryan, a close friend, who was director of Mount Manresa from 1994 to 2002.

Mrs. Timpone also volunteered for many years at Carmel Richmond Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center, Dongan Hills, where she was honored for her dedication and service in 1989. She spent many hours in the garment room, patiently sewing identification labels into and mending residents’ clothing.

She also crocheted countless afghans, which she gave to various charities, family and friends.

Mrs. Timpone’s generosity was part of her everyday life. “It was something she did often, and quietly,” said her niece, Mary Nolan.

“Dorothy lived a very full and vibrant life, and was engaged in the lives of her friends and family to the very end,” her niece added.

Born Vincenza Dorothy Bruno in West Brighton, she graduated from Curtis High School. In 1933, she became a registered nurse, graduating from the former St. Vincent’s School of Nursing, affiliated with St. Vincent’s Medical Center, West Brighton, and now called Richmond University Medical Center. She initially worked as an R.N., then became head nurse on the surgical floor.

She later worked closely in his Stapleton offices with her husband, Dr. Peter J. Timpone Sr., a well-known surgeon who was a co-founder of the former Doctors Hospital in Concord.

Her husband, Dr. Peter, died in 1973.

Mrs. Timpone is survived by many grandchildren.

The funeral will be Monday from the Casey Funeral Home, Castleton Corners, with a mass at 10:30 a.m. in Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Benedicta Church. Entombment will follow in Ocean View Cemetery, Oakwood.