Doryl Shea
October 10, 1917 - February 09, 2013
Wethersfield, Ct
Visitation: 8:30 to 9:30 am February 14, 2013 at 34 Beaver Rd. Wethersfield, Ct 06109
Funeral Service: 9:30 am February 14, 2013 at 34 Beaver Rd Wethersfield, CT 06109

Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00 am February 14, 2013 at Corpus Christi Church 601 Silas Deane Hwy, Wethersfield, Ct 06109

Interment: 11:30 am February 14, 2013 at Mount St. Benedict Cemetery 1 Cottage Grove Rd. Bloomfield, Ct 06002
Doryl Shea passed away peacefully on Saturday, February 9th in Hartford. Born on October 10th, 1917, Doryl was destined to be a strong, independent woman. Her lively intelligence and insatiable curiosity would take her around the world and place her in the middle of many of the 20th Century’s seminal events. Doryl’s mother, Catherine Hallisey Shea of Wethersfield, died young of cancer. Aunts and uncles in the large Irish-Catholic Hallisey family stepped in to care for Doryl and her younger sister, Rita, but the tragedy instilled a strength and independence in both girls. Rita enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps and was one of the relatively few WACs to serve overseas during World War II. Shortly after the war, Doryl joined the CIA and was stationed with the spy agency in Berlin just after the airlift when Germany was divided in two and the Cold War tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union had escalated to unprecedented levels. Returning to the US in 1955, Doryl hired on with Lyndon Johnson during his tenure as Senate Majority Leader. Widely considered the most effective majority leader in the history of the US Congress — one who used any combination of bullying, cajoling and manipulating to get his way — LBJ was also a notoriously difficult boss. Doryl, though, wasn’t intimidated. During her four years on his staff, she earned the future president’s respect to the point where, in a handwritten farewell praising Doryl as having “done much for many” and for “always helping the needy,” LBJ wrote “I hope some day you will once again return to my staff.” During her time on Johnson’s staff, she had the opportunity to work for Robert F. Kennedy on two of his committees. Doryl maintained a passionate, life-long interest in politics, but she left Washington and moved with her sister Rita to California, spending the 1960s working in San Francisco — the very center of the cultural revolution that was taking place. In the spring of 1968 she saw Robert Kennedy at a campaign rally in downtown San Francisco. He spotted her in the crowd and stopped to greet her asking, “What are you doing here?” She said, “I work here now.” He was assassinated in Los Angeles less than a month later. In 1970, Doryl returned to Connecticut and spent the following years until her retirement working for several of Hartford’s most prestigious law firms. She also worked for Connecticut General/Cigna and retired after many years. After retiring, Doryl continued traveling, including trips to her beloved Ireland to meet Hallisey relations still living in the old country. Always a voracious reader and prolific letter writer, Doryl continued banging out letters filled with sharp insights about world events on her typewriter until very recently. She also stayed interested in politics and the legislative process until the end of her life, regularly watching C-SPAN and always ready for a lively debate. In her 70s, Doryl battled colon cancer and not only survived, but thrived. She remained independent, living on her own, playing competitive contract bridge, writing and reading. This last October, she celebrated her 95th birthday with a party attended by dozens of her first, second and third cousins. She is survived by a large, loving family of cousins, among them Joseph and Maureen Hallisey, Paul and Margaret Hallisey, Shirley Hallisey Freyler, Carol and Robert Friel, Ann and Howard Whitford, and Barbara Suprenant. The family wishes to thank the staff of Ellis Manor for their care and support of Doryl during her last year of life. The funeral will be held at 9:15am Thursday February 14, 2013 from the Farley-Sullivan Funeral Home, 34 Beaver Rd Wethersfield, Ct followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10:00 am in Corpus Christi Church 601 Silas Deane Hwy, Wethersfield. Burial will be in Mount St. Benedict Cemetery, Bloomfield. Friends may call at the funeral home from 8:30 to 9:30 am February 14, 2013.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice