Dorothy Jenners Staley

Dorothy Jenners Staley, 77, of Oakton, Virginia passed away suddenly on September 15, 2024.

Dorothy Marie (more commonly Dottie or Dot) was born on July 25,1947 to Albert Joseph Jenners and Dorothy Galvin Jenners in Jersey City, New Jersey. The progeny of Irish immigrants, she spent her first 9 years living in a multi-generational apartment building in Jersey City before her parents, a factory worker and a school secretary, relocated the family to East Brunswick, New Jersey. There she attended East Brunswick High School where she excelled in academics and athletics — and was a proper ‘goody two shoes’.

After graduating high school in 1965, Dottie became the first member of her family to seek a higher education degree, attending Elizabeth General Hospital School of Nursing. In 1968, Dottie began what would become a 43 year nursing career which included stints in the emergency room, operating room, private practice, school nursing, and occupational health. She loved the profession and the wide range of opportunities it presented. In her words, she never got bored.

Seeking adventures beyond the Garden State, Dottie shocked everyone when she joined the U.S. Navy in 1974. She attended Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned into the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps as a Lieutenant Junior Grade. She was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, and shortly thereafter met the love of her life and future husband of 49 years, Miles Marvin Staley. She shocked everyone again, including herself, when she married Miles in 1975, just three short months after first meeting him. As Dottie said, when you know, you know.

Dorothy and Miles had three children together: Michael and Matthew in 1978 and Katie in 1981. She was an exceptionally devoted mother and proud Navy wife. Miles’s naval career took the family on no less than seven major moves, crisscrossing the country between Newport, RI, Jacksonville, FL, San Diego, CA, Norfolk, VA, and Washington, D.C. Dottie was steadfast through these upheavals, often raising the children on her own for long stretches of time while Miles was deployed. She was called up to active duty military service herself from the Naval Reserve during The Gulf War in 1991 and served at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. The family ultimately settled in Northern Virginia. There, Dottie worked in the health clinic at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, retiring in 2011.

Through it all, Dottie never missed a lacrosse game, Scout meeting, dance recital, gymnastics meet, taekwondo belt test, choir performance, field hockey tournament, school musical, or awards ceremony. She was her children’s greatest champion. Her fierce loyalty extended well beyond her children to her nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors, and friends. Aunt Dot, as she was known to many relatives and non-relatives alike, attended nearly every baptism, first communion, graduation, wedding, change of command, funeral, and milestone birthday party. For all of life’s moments, big or small, Dot was there. She would move mountains to make sure her loved ones were supported.

In recent years, her three grandchildren became the greatest beneficiaries of her extraordinary love and devotion. Having lost her own parents at a young age, Dorothy never took a single moment with her grandchildren for granted and showed up in a big way. No one could have asked for a better Nana. She was cherished.

Dorothy enjoyed life to the fullest. She liked to cook, travel, and sew, but was happiest when she was amongst her family and friends. She was clever, kind, faithful, industrious, funny, quick-tempered, stoic, resilient, honest to a fault, determined, exceedingly generous, and tender-hearted. All who knew her were truly blessed by her love.

Dorothy is predeceased by her parents, Al and Dorothy Jenners, and brother Bob Jenners. She is survived by her husband Miles Staley, sister Linda Meagher, sister-in-law Gayle Jenners, brother-in-law Dan Staley (Sandra), aunt Peg Mahan, sons Michael and Matthew Staley, daughter Katie Lentz (Alex), grandchildren Abigail, Claire, and Miles Lentz, and many beloved nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 1:00 p.m. at St Mark Catholic Church in Vienna, Virginia. All are welcome to join the family for a reception immediately following the Mass at Dottie’s favorite local watering hole: P.J. Skidoo’s in Fairfax. Please come share a memory and a laugh in Dorothy’s honor!

A burial service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, February 24, 2025 at 1:00pm.

Memorial donations may be given to one of the charities closest to Dorothy’s heart:

https://safeharborfoundation.org/
https://www.ccbjax.org/