Mary Ellen Dolan

Mary Ellen Patterson was born on November 18,1933, as an unexpected twin! A dear family friend, Mary Dolan, came to assist the midwife after her birth bringing along her 7 month old son - Martin. And thus began the lifelong companionship and love story of Martin and MaryEllen - just hours after her birth. (legend has it that they even used the same crib!). They began dating after Martin asked her to the freshman fall dance, were high school sweethearts, and married July 16, 1955. Martin and Mary Ellen were married for just over 70 years.

Mary Ellen grew up in Columbus, Michigan with her 5 brothers, where her family proudly raised Guernsey cows on a dairy farm. The farm life, and the lessons learned on it became the cornerstone of the woman she became. Being the only girl on a family run farm naturally had its challenges; one being keeping up with her brothers in baseball and basketball games they would play together after all the chores were done. She once dreamed of playing professional baseball in the women’s league that started during WWII (same one featured in the movie “A League of their Own”). As a farm girl, 4H became an important part of her youth, and ultimately provided her with a scholarship that paid her tuition at Michigan State College. Farm life also taught her to be resourceful - to cover her room and board at MSC, she found a nanny position. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1955 with a degree in home economics. Her culminating senior project was designing and making her very own wedding dress - which she not only wore for her wedding in 1955, but also modeled it in 2025 for their 70th anniversary! Farm life was certainly not easy, and through it she learned values of gratitude, humility, fortitude, and toughness - each manifested throughout her life, even including her illness.

Mary Ellen and Martin began their teaching careers in Warren Michigan, followed by Yale (Michigan) ,then moving to East Lansing where she began teaching at Lansing Otto. After their son Daniel (Dan) was born, she became a full-time mother until both he and Cathleen (Cathy) were both in school. Being a “people person” she found some ways of having personal interactions with others by working at MSU registration and taking tickets at MSU sporting events. Once Dan and Cathy were both out of high school, she went back into education for a short time as a long-term substitute high school counselor working alongside Martin. Afterwards, she worked in the athletic ticket office at Michigan State. “Retirement” involved her and Martin working countless MSU basketball and football games side-by-side welcoming fans into the arenas.

As a neighbor, she was a second “mom” to many. Her door was always open and she would greet visitors with homemade cookies and bread. Christmastime often included her homemade cinnamon roll “Christmas trees” brought to her neighbors’ doorsteps. She was always ready to help neighbors with anything they needed - including being a partner for a game of euchre, cribbage, endless varieties of rummy, or skip-bo.

She enjoyed camping and traveling in the family trailer. The “Haslett Well-Drillers’” annual spring break trips were a highlight for several years. Family summer trips out west, and a trip to Alaska with close friends and neighbors Carl and Joyce Bliesener are fond memories she carried throughout her life. Mostly though, she enjoyed spending time with loved ones at “the cabin” - a rustic refuge they built in the woods near Interlochen where bonfires ran all day, cooking was done over the campfire, countless s’mores were enjoyed, treks in the woods were daily adventures, and numerous card games were played!

In addition to her farm-life upbringing, her faith was also a core part of who she was as a person. She converted to Catholicism in college and was baptized by the longtime pastor of St.Thomas Aquinas, “Fr.Mac” (who also married Martin and MaryEllen). While at MSC, they were part of the founding committee of St.John’s Student Parish. Upon their return to East Lansing, she served on the parish council for St.Thomas, was a member of the Rosary society (serving as president for a year), a Eucharistic minister at mass and to the sick, and together with Marty, was a mentor to many in the marriage preparation program.

Family was extremely important to MaryEllen. Throughout her life, she stayed close to all her brothers, especially her twin brother “Bob” - their phone calls were legendarily long winded! She was famous for remembering birthdays and anniversaries, always making a point of calling to make sure they knew just how much she loved them. Much like a “national holiday calendar”, she would start just about every day recalling whose birthday or anniversary it was. She was close to all her grandchildren and was thrilled by visits from her great-grandson “David”, and even throughout her illness, holding her new great-granddaughter “Moira” brought her true joy.

Mary Ellen is survived by her son Dan Dolan and daughter Cathy Abbott, MD (Brian Abbott), grandchildren Christina Abbott, Michael Dolan, Ryan (Shelby) Abbott, Robert Dolan, James Dolan, great-grandchildren David and Moira Abbott, sisters-in-law Judy Patterson, Joan Dolan, and Helen Snell, and many “favorite” nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Martin Dolan, parents Lee and Mable Patterson, her brothers and sisters-in-law Jim (Anne) Patterson, Jack (Laura) Patterson, Bill (Elna) Patterson, Bob (Peg) Patterson, and Dick Patterson, and Martin’s siblings Bill (Delores) Dolan, Bob Dolan, MaryAnn (Ted) Musial, and brothers-in-law Ted Gross and Ray Snell.

In lieu of flowers she would be pleased with contributions in her name to a charity serving the community. She frequently contributed her time, talents, and treasure to several charities, some of her favorites included:

St Thomas Aquinas Church: https://elcatholics.org/giving

Lions/Leader Dogs School: https://give.leaderdog.org/for/ldb/info/website

Capuchin Soup Kitchen: https://www.cskdetroit.org/en/donate/

Pime Mission https://pimeusa.reachapp.co/donations/new

MSU athletics https://spartanfund.net/

Visitations will be Thursday, August 27, from 5:00-8:00 pm (with the rosary at 7:30) at Gorsline Runciman East Chapel, 1730 E. Grand River Ave, and Friday August 28 from 10:00-11:00 am at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 am on Friday August 28, 2026. Internment will take place at a later date in Memphis, MI.