Alice (Pryor) Dossett, 97, of New Bedford, passed away peacefully on Friday, July 8, 2022.
Every December, Alice Dossett would recruit her younger brother Richard Pryor to be her driver on a little road trip. First, Alice would load presents into Richard's car. Then they'd spend the days until Christmas driving to Acushnet, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, and all over New Bedford, delivering gifts to acquaintances, friends, and family.
Alice would send boxes bulging with rainbow popcorn balls and small toys to her nieces and nephews in Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Valuable household items for the grownups were included in the holiday package. In addition, a handwritten note would be enclosed in each Christmas card. Alice always wanted to ensure her family knew how much they were loved and how she looked forward to the next big family reunion.
Alice Dossett's superpower, said her brother Richard, was her graceful selflessness.
"She made everybody feel important," said Richard. "If you were sick or needed help, she was there. Helping people made her happiest." Alice loved her family with fierce loyalty and a determination to keep the relatives living across the United States close and in touch with one another.
On June 25th, two weeks before Alice Dossett passed away on July 8th, she and a host of family and friends celebrated her 97th birthday. Two days later, Alice and her husband Reginald (known as Dossett by family and friends) celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.
Alice was the second daughter of Joe and Alice Pryor, born in New Bedford in 1925, two years after her sister Ruth. Seven more children-Joe, Florence, Shirley, Richard, John, Emma, and Betty joined the Pryor clan.
After finishing high school and working at a factory that built machinery for the military, Alice went to school to learn how to become a beautician.
Alice and Dossett married on June 27, 1947. She graduated from beauty school and started her own business-a hair salon she named "The Beauty Nook."
Alice refused to let her fight with breast cancer in the 1980s slow her down. The side effects of chemotherapy caused her beautiful salt and pepper hair to fall out, replaced by a lovely mane of silver hair, which she grew to love. Then, in 1983, her beloved father, Joe, passed away. A few years later, she lost her younger sister Shirley to cancer.
Her natural curiosity about other people and different cultures kept Alice sharp and plugged into current events. She would always engage in conversations about race relations and politics, adding historical perspectives to every discussion. Alice and Dossett wanted to travel to other countries, and their trip in the 1990s to South Africa remained a fond memory.
When it came time to retire from the hair care business, Alice devoted more time to supporting Union Baptist Church. She also became a tireless volunteer, working at local senior centers in the New Bedford area. She accomplished all this while riding the bus daily to the assisted living facility where her mother Alice lived until her death at age 98 in 1998.
The Massachusetts House of Representatives and State Senate acknowledged her extraordinary service in 2004, naming her Volunteer of the Year for her work with The Coastline Elderly Nutrition Program.
Alice loved life and did her best to stay in the moment. When asked about the secret of her always flawless complexion, she'd laugh and say, "It's in the genes." During a conversation about film, I told Alice my actor friend Kim Scott played Aretha Franklin's grandmother in the "Respect" biopic. Alice said, "Ask your friend if she could get me in the movies."
Alice could have been a standup comic. Her dry, witty observations about people who abuse power, or the sketchy work ethic of retail employees who couldn't give her a straight answer about where to find window shades, made us all laugh out loud to the point of tears.
Her years of walking every day, typically to visit someone in need or shop at The Dollar Store, kept her energetic, healthy, and youthful.
She also kept a journal. Alice would write daily in a black and white composition notebook that she probably picked up at The Dollar Store about the beauty of the sunshine on a particular day and who she'd seen at Shaw's supermarket. Or she'd write, "Today is my sister Florence's birthday," using her journal writing to honor family milestones.
Her mission statement for life came from "The Serenity Prayer." Despite life's many challenges and heartaches, Alice never complained and always maintained the serenity to accept the things she couldn't change. Instead, Alice courageously changed the things she could. And thanks to her consistent, sincere prayers, she always had the wisdom to know the difference.
Alice Dossett was a beautiful woman, a thoughtful, loyal and devoted wife, sister, aunt, and role model. She will always be admired, cherished and loved by everyone who had the good fortune to be a part of her life.
In addition to her husband Dossett and brother Richard, Alice is survived by nieces and nephews across the United States.
Instead of flowers, please donate to the American Cancer Society.
A Funeral Service for Alice will be held at the Union Baptist Church, 109 Court Street, New Bedford on Friday, July 22, 2022 at 9 AM all are invited to meet directly at church. Burial in the Massachusetts National Cemetery will follow. Her wake will be held Thursday, July 21, from 4-7 PM at Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford.