Dorothy H. Conforti

PORTLAND – Dorothy H. Conforti, longtime resident of Portland, died at home on April 28, 2026, with husband Joseph and daughter Antonia by her side. She was 91.

Dorothy was born in Providence, R.I. Her parents had arrived from southern Italy with their families shortly after the turn of century when they were young children. She was raised in Providence alongside her five siblings. Dorothy was educated in Providence public schools through the eighth grade. Then she attended an all-girls Catholic high school in the city. Upon graduation, she joined the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, whose novitiate was but two miles from her house. Her family was only occasionally allowed to visit.

After the novitiate Dorothy, now known as Sister Josetta, FMM, went to New York City, N.Y. She worked with abandoned children at a Franciscan mission on East 45th St. While in New York, Josetta earned a BA from St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn. She was then assigned to Fall River, Mass., where the Franciscans taught in an impoverished section of the city filled with Portuguese immigrants from the Azores and their children. After a few years of teaching she became principal of the school which went from kindergarten to the eighth grade. She also earned a master’s degree in counseling from Boston College.

It became clear that she was being groomed for a leadership position in the FMM Order. But after 15 years of commitment, she decided to leave the Franciscans in 1969. Dorothy remained on good terms with her sister Franciscans. She cherished Franciscan spirituality and compassion. She considered herself a Franciscan for life.

Upon leaving the Franciscans, Dorothy accepted a fellowship to attend Bank Street College in New York City, N.Y. A progressive graduate school founded in the early 20th century, Bank Street drew its inspiration from John Dewey. Bank Street enabled her to serve as a consultant to Project Follow Through, the extension of Head Start into the early grades. Later she continued her education, earning a PhD from UCONN.

Dorothy and Joe married in 1970. Antonia was born the following year. Dorothy joined the URI faculty in 1970. Though she loved her job teaching and working with students on a beautiful campus in rural Rhode Island, she left after three years. She was recruited to establish a child care center at Rhode Island College, the state school in Providence. She remained at RIC for 15 years. Her warm, welcoming smile served her well with colleagues and student teachers.

In 1987 she and Joe, a fellow professor at RIC, both gave up tenure and moved to Portland. Dorothy taught at UMF for three years and then joined the faculty at Westbrook College. She stayed for a few years after it merged with UNE and retired in 1998. Dorothy continued her commitment as a volunteer at the Center for Grieving Children that she had begun while still teaching. She formed lifelong friendships there. For three summers she spent a week in August with other volunteers from Portland who served as counselors at America’s Camp in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. The camp was for kids who had lost loved ones in 9/11.

In retirement she traveled extensively throughout the U.S., Europe (especially Italy), the Caribbean, and beyond, often with Joe, regularly with Antonia, occasionally by herself. She also found time to renew her passion for painting, mostly watercolor.

Dorothy loved Maine’s expansiveness and beauty. But after all her travels and the changes in her life, it was a landscape very close to home that captured her imagination and spirit. She frequently found refuge in the quiet of the Audubon’s Gilsland Farm in Falmouth. There she painted, walked trails and fields, meditated by the water, and grounded herself in the values that informed her life.

At Dorothy’s request, her body has been donated to the medical school at UNE, after which she will be cremated and her ashes will pass to the family. In addition to Joe and Antonia she is survived by her brother, Richard Morelli and his wife Fran of Providence, R.I.; and many nieces and nephews.

We are grateful for all of her compassionate caregivers: Dr. Kristy Pulsifer, PCP of Intermed; Dr. Christian Thomas, MD and Gretchen Preñeta, PA of New England Cancer Specialists; and the nurses of Andwell hospice for their excellent care at home, especially Kate, RN as well as Angela, CNA.

There will be a memorial gathering during the summer.