Dorothy Groves Wright

Dorothy ”Dot” May Groves Wright, 91, died March 22, 2024 in Westerly, Rhode Island. She had lived at The Elms Retirement Residence in Westerly from 2016. Born in Easton, Maryland on May 11, 1932, she was the daughter of the late James Henry and Dorothy Blanche (Scotten) Groves, and the wife of the late William “Bill” Ellwood Wright, to whom she was married for 61 years.

Dorothy was raised in Kennedyville, Kent County, Maryland and graduated from Chestertown High School, in Chestertown, Maryland. She attended Washington College in Chestertown, where she met her future husband, Bill Wright. She graduated from then State Teacher’s College at Towson in Towson, Maryland in 1952 and married Bill in 1955. Throughout their 61 years of marriage the couple lived in New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Arizona, Maryland, and Rhode Island. The couple returned to Virginia in the late 1980s, eventually moving to Dorothy’s beloved Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2005.

She began her teaching career in Galena, Maryland and taught in elementary schools in New Jersey, Virginia, and Arizona. Always an avid reader, Dorothy earned a degree in library science in the 1970s and worked in several school libraries in Virginia and Arizona, and for a time worked as a technical librarian for Gates Learjet Corporation in Tucson, Arizona.

Dorothy was an avid, lifelong gardener, a passion she shared with her husband - “I love watching things grow,” she was fond of saying. She was also greatly interested in history and genealogy, having volunteered with the Historical Society of Kent County, Maryland; pitched in with an archeological dig of a colonial Anglican Church in Virginia; and helped organize Groves family reunions. A pianist for most of her life, Dorothy performed in dance bands on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in her youth and inspired a love of music in her children. She loved to sing, especially in harmony, and was always learning new crafts.

She leaves three sons and their families; Edward and wife Karen Heinowski Wright of Tucson, AZ; Mark and Pamela Bianco Wright, and children Charlotte, Gwendolyn, Thomas and William Spencer of Stonington, CT; and Jack Wright and Lynne Czamanske, and children John "Jed" and Margot of Arlington, MA. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, her sister, Betty Jean Groves Asplund and her brother-in-law, Arthur Bayard “Bob” Asplund.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Dorothy’s name to the Historical Society of Kent County, Maryland, P.O. Box 665, Chestertown, MD 21620. Kentcountyhistory.org.

A celebration of Dorothy’s life will be held at a later date. Please send inquiries to dorothygroveswright@hotmail.com.