FAIRHAVEN -- Dorothea Richmond Paull, 96, of Fairhaven, died Thursday, May 5, 2005, at Our Lady's Haven after a brief illness.
Born in Fairhaven, she was the daughter and only child of the late Alton Bancroft and Estelle Richmond (Delano) Paull.
In 1909, she was one of the first three children christened at the then-new Unitarian Memorial Church. She graduated from Fairhaven High School, class of 1926, attended the Leland Powers School of the Spoken Word in Boston and graduated in 1930 from the Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. From 1930 to 1932 she worked in Washington, D.C., in the dental office of Dr. Marshall E. Brushart and from 1932 to 1935 at the Millicent Library in Fairhaven. From 1935 to 1943 she was a secretary for the American Red Cross, first in New Bedford, then on Long Island and in Yonkers, N.Y. From 1943 to 1953 she was first a librarian, then a secretary at Emerson College in Boston, after which she returned to Fairhaven and was secretary at the Unitarian Memorial Church until 1966, when she returned to Emerson. A serious injury in 1973 forced her retirement and she returned to Fairhaven.
She became active as a volunteer at the Unitarian Church and the Millicent Library, and was involved in the Fairhaven Historical Society, the Fairhaven Improvement Association and the Colonial Club. Her lifelong interest in theater continued with several local theater groups, including Your Theatre in New Bedford, where she played a main role in "Arsenic and Old Lace" in 1989.
She was an active volunteer with the Inter-Church Council of Greater New Bedford and the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra and served on the board of directors of the Civic Music (now the Classical Musical Series) of Greater New Bedford. She was active in many local charitable and educational organizations.
In January of 2003 she moved from the home her father built in 1914 to Alden Place in Fairhaven.
Survivors include cousins, friends and many admirers.
Her memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 14, 2005, at the Unitarian Memorial Church 102 Green St., Fairhaven, Ma.
Private burial will be at River-side Cemetery in Fairhaven
Arrangements are by the Wilson Funeral Home, 479 County St., New Bedford, Ma.