Dorothy Mae (Ridley) Chisholm, age 97, Formerly of Taunton and Raynham, MA, then Plant City, FL, died Thursday, March 20, 2025, at Manchester Manor, Manchester, CT. She left this world to be with all the friends and family she loved and missed so much with her daughter Catherine by her side. Dorothy was the daughter of the late Myron L. and Alma (Stanley) Ridley and granddaughter of the well admired Taunton Police Chief Lewis Ridley and his wife Ruth (Leonard) Ridley. Dorothy was born in Dighton, MA, on January 18, 1928, in an old house near Henry Horton’s Farm on the Dighton-Rehoboth line, where John (Joao de Figuerido) Stanley and Alma “Bertha” (Paturel) Stanley, her grandparents worked and lived. She was midwived by her grandmother Bertha at the same time her mother’s sister Louise was also giving birth in the next bedroom over. Louise’s daughter was named Helen, and Dorothy and Helen always remained close knit cousins.

Dorothy “Dottie” “Dot” had a wonderful childhood as both her parents came from large families, so she was always surrounded by aunts, uncles and many cousins. When she was young her father and grandfather Lewis Ridley both had horses, which she called “hosses”, she had fond memories of riding them. As a young girl she would ride her bicycle from Taunton along Somerset Avenue to Dighton to spend the day with her Stanley relatives near Horton's Farm and then be back by supper to be with her Ridley relatives on Somerset Avenue. Many times on her way to Horton's Farm, she would lovingly meet up with “Boss”, a huge oxen. She would let him out of his pen and he would follow her down the dirt road for two miles and she would put him in the other pasture. Dorothy also enjoyed going with her friends to the Strand Theater in Taunton and paying 5 cents to watch movies all day! She also witnessed Franklin D. Roosevelt being driven around the Taunton Green in a parade.

Dorothy married WWII Army Veteran Colin “Brud” Chisholm native of Taunton, MA in 1947, two years after the end of the war. In true baby boomer fashion, they had 3 boys in a row, Paul, Peter and David Chisholm. They raised their family during the fifties in the Whittenton area of Taunton, near their Chisholm family relatives. Their sons have fond memories of their 1950’s childhoods with Colin and Adelina (Menard) Chisholm, their grandparents, and cousins, relatives and friends all living in the Whittenton area of Taunton. Later on in the mid-sixties, they moved their family to Raynham, where they had their daughter, Catherine. After Dorothy’s sons graduated high school, every one of them joined the service. Now that her daughter was growing up Dorothy wanted to go to work. Brud wasn’t too keen on the idea, as he always provided for the family. He relented and Dorothy went to work at Norwell Manufacturing Co. in Raynham for 12 years soldiering lamps. She really enjoyed her work and made many friends there that she still talked about in her last remaining years. In the mid-eighties, Dot and Brud decided to retire and move to Florida to be closer to their grandchildren. After 14 years in Florida, Brud passed away in 1998. Dorothy was then watched over by her son Peter and then her son Paul and daughter-in-law Mildred (Wells) Chisholm in Florida until 2023. During her last years she lived with her daughter, Catherine in Bolton, CT. Dorothy is loved and missed by her descendants and nieces and nephews. We are pretty sure she is now surrounded by all the relatives and friends that predeceased her that she missed so much and talked of so often. Dot and Brud truly were from America's greatest generation.

Dorothy is survived by her daughter, Catherine Chisholm; her sons Paul and David Chisholm and their children and grandchildren and many loved nieces, nephews.

Dorothy was predeceased by her husband Colin “Brud” Chisholm, son Peter Chisholm, daughter-in-law Mildred (Wells) Chisholm, brother Lewis “Buddy” Ridley, sister Bette (Ridley) Martin, and older sister Ruth who died in infancy.

John F. Tierney Funeral Home in Manchester, CT, has care of the arrangements. Services will be held privately and at the convenience of the family in Florida. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Disabled American Veterans which Dorothy proudly gave donations to.