Patron Spotlight

Patron Spotlight: Dorothy Sellers

By Regina G. Feeney and Cynthia J. Krieg

 

 

Dorothy Sellers loves libraries. For most of her 99 years, she has had a fondness for reading. Growing up in coal country, in the mountains outside Pittsburgh, PA, the library was the center of her childhood. Everyone in her town went to the library. It was an important part of the community. Dorothy still remembers Miss Seaton, the librarian who ruled the roost.

The Great Depression hit while Dorothy was in high school, and it devastated her town. Her father lost his business and eventually died. Dorothy left the Keystone State to attend Ohio Wesleyan University. After graduation, she moved in with a relative in Floral Park and began looking for work in Manhattan. But most jobs required some experience, and Dorothy had none. Undaunted, Dorothy padded her resume and eventually got a job at Seagram’s on Park Avenue as an executive secretary. During her tenure, she was able to attend the Kentucky Derby and go to meetings in Palm Beach. She loved her job at Seagram’s and worked there for nearly 40 years.

Dorothy moved to Freeport in the 1940s and immediately joined the Freeport Memorial Library. She remembers Freeport as a great community for shopping. Every Saturday, shoppers found their way to Main Street and shopped in Carol Green’s, Samet’s, and Woolworth.

When not reading, working, or shopping, Dorothy worked on crafts. Many of her creations were sold in the gift shop of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel just down the block from Seagram’s. Her favorite craft was making miniature Christmas trees and ornaments. She even made personalized trees for Presidents Hoover and Eisenhower.

Dorothy sees herself as the dowager queen of her family. She has nieces and nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews living all over the world. To keep in contact with her family, she uses email on her iPad. When not at the Library, she spends time with friends and attends aerobic classes. She celebrated her 99th birthday by visiting the High Line Park on Manhattan’s West Side.