Aunt Dorothy Regina O’Donnell

Dorothy Regina O’Donnell 

My mother told me that they weren’t sure what caused her younger sister, Dot, to get epileptic seizures.  They had a couple of theories as to what might have happened.  At one point Dot had a fall off a ladder or a rope in gym class and was injured ( head injury? ). At another point, Dot suffered a ruptured appendix and was deathly ill afterwards ( possibly sepsis). The family prayed with all their might that Dot would survive and she pulled through.  But my Mom thought that such a severe illness left Dot with a seizure disorder. I really don’t know at what age the seizures began or exactly what they entailed. Aunt Anne (December 10-1920 )was a year younger than Dot ( Dec 7, 1919) and I know they were very close and it appears that Aunt Anne was something of a guardian for Dot.  When they were in a store together (possibly the 5 and 10) Dot would take things out of the store without paying and Aunt Anne would have to defend Dot and explain that she didn’t really know what she was doing.  Aunt Anne also told me that once when they were out together, Dot had a grand mal seizure on the sidewalk and a crowd developed around them and Anne had to handle Dot and ask the people to step back.   Dot’s mother, my grandmother, Margaret Coleman O’Donnell had a heart condition ( she had her first heart attack at approximately 46 or 47 years of age ) and was a bit incapacitated after that making Dot’s behavior more and more difficult to handle. Apparently Dot would sometimes wake up and leave the apartment and go out walking the streets in the middle of the night.  I was told that was the reason that residential care became a necessity. I don’t know what year Dot was admitted to Craig Colony or how many years she resided there before she died. I recently came across the hand written death certificate and I will enter the information in this Blog entry when I locate it. I believe that the family was told she died of a seizure.  Dorothy Regina O’Donnell is buried in the Friendsville Cemetery in Friendsville, Pa on one side of her parents ( Margaret and Thomas J. O’Donnell) and Anne Rose O’Donnell is buried on the other side of her parents. 

Craig Colony - this is where my Aunt Dorothy O’Donnell died. Dorothy Regina O’Donnell was born 12-7-19 in Brooklyn, NY and died at Craig Colony in Sonyea, NY on 6-2-1942 

History

Situated at a former Shaker colony,[1] the facility was established in 1896 on 1,900 acres (770 ha).[2] Its inspiration was the colony at Bielefeld, Westphalia, Germany.[3][4] Craig Colony was situated 70 miles (110 km) southeast of Buffalo and 40 miles (64 km) south of Rochester. The facility was maintained by New York State appropriations. To be admitted to the Colony, the patient had to be a legal resident of New York State, and been declared epileptic by a physician. The Colony School, under the auspices of the Geneseo State Normal School, convened in 1921. The Peterson Hospital was on the premises, as were a farm, garden, and dairy.[5] Before the facility opened, it was known as Sonyea Colony but the name was changed to Craig Colony after Oscar Craig who was serving as president of the State Board of Charities. Its name continued to change over the years: Craig Colony for Epileptics (1896), Craig Colony (1920), Craig Colony and Hospital (1951), Craig Colony School and Hospital (1966), Craig State School (1968), and Craig Developmental Center (1969).[6][4] Even though there were approximately 2,000 patients at the colony in 1967, it closed it doors a year later.