Lt. Colonel Cecilia Dorothy Parrillo USAF, Ret.

Cecilia Dorothy “Dotty” (McGuire) Parrillo spent a lifetime of service to others as a Registered Nurse and Lt Colonel in the United States Air Force where she accrued 25 years of service to her country. She died peacefully at Transitions LifeCare on July 12th, 2022 in Raleigh, NC at the age of 91.

Dotty is survived by her son, Scott Parrillo and his wife, Sheila, and her grandchildren, Ava and Scott II, of Raleigh, NC and many nieces and nephews who loved her very much. She is preceded in death by her devoted husband, Anthony Joseph Parrillo, her parents, the late John Joseph McGuire and Sarah Cannon McGuire and her brothers, John J. McGuire of Madison, NJ and Francis G. McGuire of Phillipsburg, NJ.

Dotty was born on November 4th, 1930 in Jersey City, NJ.. She graduated from Bayley High School of Morristown, NJ. She obtained her Registered Nursing degree in 1952 from All Souls Hospital in Morristown, NJ. In the Air Force, she proudly began her active-duty service time in 1965 during the Vietnam War. She was stationed at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, AL where she served on the ICU Air Evac Team. One of her favorite stories to tell occurred while stationed at Maxwell. She achieved her lifelong dream of learning how to fly and she successfully took off and landed a plane during flight instruction.

She ascended to the rank of Lt Colonel in the US Air Force Reserves where she spent most of her service time as a Chief Nurse at McGuire AFB in Burlington County, NJ until her retirement in 1990. She was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for her service. Her civilian employment included working for a brief time in AZ at Tucson General and in NJ for Western Electric, Elizabeth General Hospital, All Souls Hospital, as a visiting nurse and most prominently she was a Head Nurse in the Emergency Services Department of Freehold Area Hospital for 20 years where she received numerous Certificates of Merit. After she and Joe retired to Florida, her last job was at Holy Family Catholic Church in Port St Lucie, FL with Rev. Thomas F. Cauley Jr. where she assisted new parishioners.

She belonged to and contributed to numerous organizations throughout her career including the American Legion, Emergency Department Nurses Association (EDNA), Monmouth-Ocean Counties Shared Services Association (MONAC), Reserve Officers Association (ROA) and the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).

A memorial service will be scheduled at a future date at St. Vincent Martyr Cemetery in Madison, NJ.

Donations can be made in memory of Dotty to Transitions LifeCare, (https://www.transitionslifecare.org/donate/)

Service arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, 300 Saint Mary's St. Raleigh, NC.