Dorothy Edna (Copley) Cusanelli

Dorothy Edna (Copley) Cusanelli (97) went to be with her Lord and Saviour on Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 10:30 p.m. with her only remaining son, Fred by her side. Too frail and weak to move from her room at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville she was attended by Willard Walker Hospice Care. Dorothy was born in New York City on June 14, 1918 to Harold and Anna Copley. She graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School and attended Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church both in Woodside, N.Y. After graduation she joined her mother and started her career with The American Telephone and Telegraph Co. in lower Manhattan. She worked as both an overseas and mobile marine telephone operator. She really enjoyed talking and helping the tug boat captains in the N.Y. Harbor and connecting passengers from the ocean liners to their relatives already in the USA. After retiring she joined the staff of the Pan American Motor Inn in Elmhurst, Queens as their telephone receptionist. In 1990 she joined her son, Tom and his family here in Fayetteville, Ark. She gained employment at The University of Arkansas as their evening switchboard operator. She loved working for The University and considered herself a loyal "Razorback," then due to failing health and driving skill she reluctantly retired at 93. She loved knitting and crocheting and made sure that all of her children and grandchildren had "Granny Square" quilts. Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband, Frederick A. Cusanelli; her parents; a brother, Harold T. Copley and his wife, Joan, and two sons, Frederick Carl Cusanelli and Thomas K. Cusanelli, and one loving granddaughter, (Wendy Rohrich). She is survived by a son, Fredrick H. Cusanelli of Fayetteville; sister-in-law, Evelyn Salat of Chestertown, Md.; two daughters-in-law, Linda S. Jacob of Little Rock and Karen Gregory of Montgomery, Ala.; two grandchildren, Frederick A. Cusanelli of Fayetteville, Ark (of whom she was especially proud of him being the fourth generation telephone worker in the family), Carrie Snider and her husband, Chris of Little Rock; and one great-granddaughter, Jessica Gregory of Montgomery, Ala. Dorothy loved all of God's creatures especially her dogs and perhaps one special cat. She was a proud member of University City 495 Order of the Eastern Star and a life member of The Telephone Pioneers of America (Carl Whitmore Chapter in NYC). Nelson Berna Funeral Home and Crematory handled the cremation arrangements. The family will handle a memorial service at a later date. Online condolences at www.nelsonberna.com.