Dorothy Cecelia Bright

Dorothy Cecelia Bright, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, teacher, and friend, passed away peacefully with family at her side on August 10, 2024. 

Dorothy was born to Jeremiah and Agnes McCarthy in Manchester, NH on August 29, 1939. She spent her young life in New Hampshire, graduating from St. Joseph High School in Manchester, Keene State College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It was in graduate school where she met her husband of 61 years, Roy Bright. Dorothy and Roy moved to Ohio, New Jersey, and Minnesota, before settling in Portland in 1978, residing in the Rock Creek area for over 45 years. 

Dorothy was a high school teacher for most of her adult life. She taught home economics and vocational education at Hillsboro and Glencoe High Schools in Hillsboro, Oregon for twenty years. Dorothy taught high school students the skills of childcare through the Little Spartans Preschool. She loved it when years later, her former high school students brought their own children to the preschool. Dorothy also led the school’s Food Education and Service Training (FEAST) for several years. Dorothy retired from Hilhi in 1997, and spent a great deal of her retirement traveling the world with her husband. When they weren’t traveling, they enjoyed entertaining, music and theater, long walks, golf, and spending winters in Tucson, Arizona. Dorothy was also a devoted church volunteer at her parishes in Arizona and Oregon.

Dorothy is survived by her husband, Roy, her son and daughter-in-law, David and Linda of Happy Valley, and their sons, Devin and Derek of Portland. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, her son, Brian, and her sister, Judith McCarthy-Martin. She is also survived by her nephew, Patrick McCarthy-Martin of Charleston, SC, and numerous nieces and nephews on the Bright side of the family. 

A funeral mass will be held for Dorothy at St. Juan Diego Catholic Church, 5995 NW 178th Ave, Portland, at 11 AM on Wednesday, September 4, 2024. The mass will be followed by a reception at the church, and then interment at Mount Calvary Catholic Cemetery at 2:30 PM.

 Over the course of several years, Dorothy succumbed to the effects of dementia. For those looking to make a donation in Dorothy’s memory, please consider the Alzheimer’s Association.