MEDWAY: Dorothy Cryan

Dorothy Cryan of North Haverhill, NH, passed peacefully on Monday, October 27, 2025, surrounded by family.

Dotty was born on September 21, 1938, in Waltham, MA, to parents Peter and Emily Arsenault.

As a teenager, she worked in the family business, Pete’s Cleaners, where she had the opportunity to meet some of her favorite Bruins hockey players. Dotty also met her first husband, Salvatore Spataro. They moved to Medway, MA, where Sal took a job with the Medway Police Department, and they started their family. Dotty made lifelong friends here. When her children were older, she took a job at Eddie’s Cleaners. When she met Jack Cryan, she knew she had found love again. They made their home in Medway, then eventually settled in Bradford, VT. When Jack lost his battle with cancer, Dotty moved to Wells River, VT, to be closer to her daughter. Dotty was dedicated to caring for her family and home. Her chocolate chip cookies were legendary. Everyone hoped to see that red Folgers can come out of the car when she visited.

Dotty is predeceased by her parents and siblings, Frank, Bob, and Dick Arsenault, and Shirley Goinsalvos, as well as her son, Richard Spataro, and her husband, Jack Cryan.

Dotty leaves behind her daughters Karen Perdue and husband Chris of Littleton, NH; Donna Spataro of Bath, NH; Tina Dennett and husband David of Bellingham, MA, and daughter-in-law Melissa Spataro as well as her grandchildren Joseph Flynn, Emalie Scipione, and her husband Stuart, Kali Ellis and husband Shaun, Adam Spataro and wife Deanna, Ariana Kerttula and husband Colby, Meghan Dennett and fiancé Daniel LaPierre, Sophia Dennett and Lea Dennett and her niece Cheryl Fantasia and her husband Bobby, and many other nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her beloved great-grandchildren Logan and Lainey Ellis, Hunter and Hudson Kerttula, Harley Spataro and Desmond and Delphine LaPierre.

Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to your favorite charity or the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at www.alzfdn.org.