Phyllis (Dolly) Maas of the Villages, Florida passed away on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. She was 92.
Dolly is survived by her husband of 73 years, Henry Maas, her daughter Margaret Natalie and son-in-law William, her son Pat Maas and his wife Debbie. Dolly was proud to have five grandchildren, Scott DeCesare, deceased, and his wife Dawn, Andy Maas and his wife Janet, Denielle Maas Elliston and her husband Kevin, Jamie Maas Huebner and her husband Jay and Gabrielle Maas Ray and her husband Dylan. She also had three step grandchildren that she loved dearly: Kim Natalie Harnett and her husband Paul, Bill Natalie Jr. and his wife Janelle and Kevin Natalie. In all she had fifteen great grandchildren that she was so proud of: Sean Maas, Ryan Maas, Connor Maas, Jack Huebner, Tyler Huebner, Allison (Allie) Huebner, Chase Elliston, Drew Elliston, Emma Elliston, Dylan Harnett, Reece Harnett, Aiden Natalie, Trevor Natalie, Nicholas Natalie, Vincent Natalie.
She was preceded in death by her beloved daughter Johanna, grandson Scott DeCesare and granddaughter Danielle Maas as well as her parents Pasquale (Pat) Denicola and Margaret (Dunn) Denicola; her siblings Marie (DoDo) Denicola Derenzo, and Margaret (Chickie) Denicola.
Dolly was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. When her grandfather died, she moved in with her grandmother on Chrystie Street in the lower east side of NYC. Upon her grandmother’s passing she moved back to Greenpoint where she met the love of her life “Henny”. They were married July 1, 1947 and lived in Greenpoint until they moved to Elmont in 1960 and then Franklin Square, Long Island, New York in 1963. In 1985 they moved to Dover, Delaware. They loved living in Delaware and stayed there for thirty years. At 87 and 92 Dolly and Henry moved to the Villages. They began their stay here by walking the loop around the pond off of Luraville Road in the Village of Gilchrist stopping to rest on the bench by the pond. Many neighbors got used to seeing them on their daily walk and stopped to chat along the way. They enjoyed the lifestyle for a few years before health issues prevented them from walking the neighborhood. However, they still participated in many of the activities that didn’t include walking.
Dolly was very modern in that she worked her entire life and was a working mom before organized daycare was available balancing work, and family. She always wanted to help out and earning money for the family was something that she felt very proud to do. She started her career at Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in the manufacture of antibiotics a job she loved. She eventually retired from Doubleday Publishing Company in 1985.
She was able to keep up with technology and was astute at connecting DVR’s, recording equipment and navigating her ipad, iphone and complicated remotes.
Dolly’s main legacy was her family and all the lives she touched by just being the beautiful person that she was. She was a good listener and had a warm forgiving heart. She was so very proud of her family; a tireless cheerleader, who felt very blessed to have them in her life.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Tuesday, October 27 at 11:00 am at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church.
