Dolores L. Giarrizzo

Dolores L. (Grzywacz) Giarrizzo, 83, of Albion, passed away on June 12, 2020. Dolores was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, N.Y. on Aug. 25, 1936, a daughter of the late Gizela (Kida) and Andrew Grzywacz.

Dolores will be remembered as a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved her fur babies and, at one time, had four of them. Due to health reasons, she had to cut back to two, and then had to give the two up.

On the recommendation of the late Norma DiLaura, Albion school counselor, Dolores started her career at G.L.F., later known as Albion Agway, while still a senior in high school in 1954. She was appointed Store Manager of the Albion retail store in 1979. Agway closed their Albion location, and Dolores was then transferred to Knowlesville Agway as Chemical Department Manager. After 42 years of service, Agway closed their locations, and Dolores retired. She considered her Agway customers as family and did business with three generations. She was lovingly known as the “Agway Lady” and “Grandma D” with her “Dee G” license plate. Everyone knew her car and knew where she was or was going. She then took her civil service test and was hired by the Orleans County Probation Office; and she later transferred to the Orleans County Mental Health Department, where she worked for 16 more years before retiring due to heart bypass surgery.

Dolores was fun-loving, and she enjoyed going shopping and to craft shows with her very best friend, Mary Lou McGaffick, who passed away in 2014. After retirement, Dolores volunteered at PAWS Animal Shelter, Hospice of Orleans, and Office for the Aging. She was a member of St. Mary’s Church, where she sang in the choir; Catholic Daughters, and the former St. Mary’s Rosary Society. She enjoyed spending time with her granddaughters, Lisa and Jamie; and her great-grandchildren, Brandon, Brady, Brylee and Joshua.

Dolores was predeceased by the father of her children, Joseph, in August 1992; brother, Thaddeus A. Grzywacz, in 2000; and her dear friend and Agway associate, Walter D. Pirong, in 2017.

She is survived by her loving children, son and loving caretaker, Michael (Peggy Clement, loving caretaker); daughter, Diane (Joe) Argento; granddaughters, Lisa (Brian) Christiaansen and Jamie (Josh) Bennett; great-grandchildren, Brandon, Brady, and Brylee Christiaansen, and Joshua J. Bennett; her extended family, Cathy, Valerie, Howard, Jay and Wally Pirong; her very dear sister, Helen (Edgar) Wilkins; sister-in-law, Edith (late Thaddeus A. Grzywacz); nephew and nieces, Thomas (Beata) Wilkins, Sue (Jim) Colton, Casey (Stephanie Brown) Colton, Sarah (Sal) Muneer, very special niece, Tammy (John) Parada, Thaddeus (Nikkia) Grzywacz; brother-in-law, Chuck (Beverly) Giarrizzo; sister-in-law, Arlene (Butch) Bokman; as well as several other nieces and nephews.

Please note that all guests upon entering the funeral home and church are required to wear a face mask, use hand sanitizer, and observe social distancing. Thank you!

The family will receive friends at Christopher Mitchell Funeral Homes, Inc., 21 West Ave., Albion NY 14411, on Tue., June 16 from 4 to 7 p.m. Dolores’s Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Family Parish – St. Joseph’s Church, W. Park Street, Albion NY 14411, on Wed., June 17 at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

Memorial contributions in Dolores’s name may be made to PAWS, 3371 Gaines Basin Road, Albion NY 14411; or to Churchville Lions Club, PO Box 364, Churchville NY 14428.

To share a special memory of Dolores, please visit www.mitchellfamilyfuneralhomes.com.