Pauline Kendall Dion WEXFORD, Pa. — On Nov. 3, 2020, Pauline “Polly” Dion, age 93, passed away peacefully in Wexford, Pennsylvania, with her daughter by her side. Born July 23, 1927, in Hartland, Vermont, Polly graduated from Hartford High School and attended Albany Business College. She was preceded in death by her parents, Carl Sass and Mildred Adams; and her husband, Louis David “Lou” Dion II. Her mother operated “The Doggie Motel” in Plainfield, New Hampshire, in the ’60s and Polly was instrumental in the restaurant “Annie McCassar’s” in Claremont during the ’80s. Polly married Lou in 1948 and they lived in an Army barracks at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where they had their first baby, Louis David Dion III. In 1952, she had her second child, Debra, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. As the wife of an aerospace engineer, Polly lived through the ’60s in Titusville, Florida, as the Apollo program manifested. The wives at that time were clearly the “unsung heroes” as the mono-focused engineers did all they could humanly do to get a man on the moon. Most families took a back seat to this calling. In the early-’70s, Polly was happily Tea Room modeling for Mark, Four and Strike, a prominent women’s boutique in Winter Park, Florida. In 1976, Polly, Lou and Debra moved to Isfahan, Iran, with Grumman aerospace for two years before the Iranian revolution. This introduction to the Middle East and women under veil, resulted in her daughter starting “Inspired Women Paying it Forward,” a national philanthropic networking organization raising funds for women’s initiatives locally and globally. Polly and Lou retired in Apopka, Florida, until his passing in 2011. She continued with her lifelong loves, antiques and dogs. A rescue, Snuggles, was with them for years, and Polly truly loved her time as the number one Grammy to her granddaughters, making summers and holidays special for all of them. As a widow, Polly moved to Pittsburgh in 2012 to be closer to family. Survivors include her daughter, Debra Dion Krischke and husband Ryan (Wexford, Pennsylvania); her son, Dr. David Dion and wife Debbie (Lincoln, New Hampshire, and Hartselle, Alabama); her granddaughters, Alex Pazzaglia (husband Nick), a businesswoman (Pittsburgh), Jeannie Johnston (husband Chris), nuclear engineer (Kensington, Maryland), Kristen Lemley (husband Brett), mechanical engineer (Washington, D.C.); and three great-grandchildren, Logan (age 3) and Lena (age 8 months) Johnston and Bella Pazzaglia (age 13). A private memorial and interment service will be held in the summer of 2021 in Claremont, New Hampshire. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Zephaniah Education, a girls’ school in Pakistan where girls are empowered through education and skills learning. https://zephaniaheducation.org/donate-2/
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