Dorothy Lois Hassall

It is with deep love and cherished memories that we announce the passing of Dorothy Lois Hassall. Born Dorothy Takala and known through the years by her married names Rigden and Hassall. She passed peacefully on April 23, 2025, leaving a legacy of kindness, devotion, and quiet courage.

Dorothy was born on January 7, 1934, in Concord, Ohio to George and Hilia Takala and grew up in Painesville with her siblings, Alvin, Ruth, Elaine, and Timmy. There she formed the foundations of her character of quiet, unassuming steadfastness and tenderness. At the age of 19, she married John S Rigden and by the age of 28 had brought six children into the world- Jeff, Greg, Jonathan, Karen, Keith, and Brick raising them with love and tireless dedication. Life was not always easy for Dorothy, but she embodied the very essence of her Finnish heritage with sisu, never letting the hardships harden her heart. Her life was a testament to grace under pressure and remarkable strength bringing stability and love to her family and commitment to her work. In 1994, she married William Hassall, with whom she shared many happy memories. With him she enjoyed golf, travel, and opera while living in both Florida and Lake of the Ozarks then later in the St Louis area. She missed him dearly when he passed in 2021.

Dorothy’s legacy will be carried on by her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends, and loved ones. Her essence is captured well in a quote from the book Middlemarch about the character Dorothea:

The effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is dependent on unhistoric acts: and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.

Her faithfully lived, hidden life touched many. In the coming years many will visit her tomb, and she will always be enshrined in our memories as we carry her spirit forward.