DORIS ANNE CONNOLLY WOLFF
Greenville - Doris Anne Connolly Wolff, formerly of Weston, MA, widow of Polaroid’s first employee, Otto Edward Wolff, passed away April 14, 2008, in Greenville, at the age of 89. A renowned antique dolls and furniture collector, she was also a well-practiced restorer of colonial homes in Massachusetts. Her first such project was a 1718 slate-roof gambrel home in Lancaster, MA, which had to be removed from Fort Devens property to make room for a firing range. With the help of her father, brothers, cousins, and husband, of course, the house was reassembled in Lincoln, MA, using Polaroid’s only truck on weekends. She named the house the 1718 Doll House, which housed her collection of many antique mechanical dolls and her three children, Tom, Kerry, and Andy. Her persistence in this field ultimately contributed to her granddaughter Katrina Anne’s college education. The 1718 Doll House was ultimately purchased by the descendent of its original owner and builder.

Among her other projects was the Whitney Tavern saltbox in Weston, MA, dating back to the late 1600’s, plus a historic house in Lexington, which originally sat on the Town Green during the Revolution. In it she discovered under multiple layers of old wallpaper many murals by the itinerant artist, Rufus Porter, founder of Scientific American. The house was alleged to have been a meeting place for George Washington and General Lafayette and also may have served as a secret Masonic meeting place.

In addition, she pursued a nursing degree, resumed a college education, and assisted then Archbishop Richard J. Cushing with the establishment of the Rose Hawthorne School in Concord. In time she helped her husband with the construction of a home on the French West Indian island of St. Martin. Her husband predeceased her on her birthday in 1991, ten days before their 50th wedding anniversary.

She was born in Boston to Michael and Anna (Glynn) Connolly, who both hailed from County Galway, Ireland. After her father’s passing, she set her mother up in the antique business in her parents’ home, The House by the Side of the Road, in East Lexington, MA. In addition to her three children and granddaughter, she is survived by her brothers, Jack Connolly of Alexandria, VA, and Joe Connolly of Wolfeboro, NH. Her brother George of E. Falmouth, MA, a Battle of the Bulge veteran, and her youngest brother, Norman, formerly of Lexington, have both passed away.

Support of any cause of one’s choosing in any form would make Doris and Otto smile. Arrangements are in the care of the Lary Funeral Home, Dover-Foxcroft. Messages of condolence and memories may be expressed at www.laryfuneralhome.com.