Dorothy “Dot” Kennedy, who traded the urban streets of her native Queens for the more verdant landscape of Chester County but never lost her “New York edge,” that she combined with a well-spring of humor and good will and was showcased in the Daily Local News in her work as a reporter, writer and columnist, has died. She was 71.

Her death on May 31, in Florida, where she had been living for some time, was confirmed by her son, Ryan McCabe.

Kennedy had come to live in the county after giving birth to the first of her two sons, James, and moving out of New York City to Delaware in the mid-1970s. The relocation startled her, she often remarked, because she “never thought I’d live in the Deep South.”

The family moved to West Chester in 1981, and Kennedy began the routine of being a stay-at-home Chester County mother, blending in with her new surroundings — except for her wisecracking Queens accent and continued love for her old whereabouts. Her sons attended schools in West Chester and as they grew older she looked for something to spend her time doing. She chose writing.

In the early 1990s, she applied for and was accepted as a correspondent for the Daily Local News, covering news events on a freelance basis. She proved adept at being more than a “housewife journalist,” and her writing efforts grew. She was hired as a full-time writer, and later developed a following as a weekly columnist in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

It was in those pieces, sharing her love of people from a wide variety of backgrounds through profiles and shared thoughts, that she shone as a writer.

Among her subjects was a young girl from Westtown, Megan Mann, who had survived Guillian-Barre syndrome and went on to become a prolific fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia; two “nice guys who didn’t finish last,” Bill Ronayne and Chuck Swope, who were being honored by the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce; and Pat “Miss Mosley” Mosley, who survived an accidental blow from a 16-pound throwing hammer and spent years as a beloved teacher.

One of her most memorable columns was a Christmastime piece about Dr. Elwood “Ozzie” Spellman, the well-known West Chester dentist. He had related to her the story of growing up with a childhood friend who moved away and seemed lost to time, only to re-emerge by sheer happenstance when the two men were visiting a town in Mexico at the same time. She retold the events eloquently, it being the type of story she most loved to tell — the “it’s a small world after all” tales that blend good fortune with kismet.

But her main focus was always the people she crossed paths with.

“It was really important for my mom to be friends with people from all walks of life,” said Ryan McCabe, noting that she would host dinners with different people so they could interact, calling them “Dot Connects Dinners.” “That was a theme of her life, which started at birth,” McCabe said. “Queens, New York, is one of the most diverse cities in the world. When she was born and grew up it was probably actually the very most diverse place in world.

“She really really treated everyone equally no matter what,” he added. “And if somebody wronged her, she treated them equally, by giving a nice (buzz off) no matter what. She never lost her NYC edge.”

“She was a very unique character with a great personality,” said Dan Price, who shared office space with her when they two worked at the West Chester Business Improvement District and the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce, respectively.

“She was this little old lady from Queens with a New York accent and a New York personality, who was really funny and definitely a people person,” Price said Wednesday. “She was able to treat everybody with respect and kindness, whether it was the homeless guy or the state Senator.” Kennedy worked as a receptionist, but handled public relation efforts and served as a welcoming agent for those who would stop in the chamber’s offices.

“She would do her best to help them,” Price said.

Her friends also remembered how Kennedy was given lessons on standup comedy as a gift from her sons, and how at 60 she won an amateur night at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia.

Sally Graeber was a neighbor when Kennedy moved to the county, and recalled how her friend turned her avocation into a career. “She loved to write, and had gone to school for it,” she said. “She was a great storyteller, and enjoyed it, and it all came together with the paper.”

Graeber remembered how Kennedy would swoon over tales of meeting someone who knew someone who knew someone else, all fitting together in mystical coincidence. “She loved those small town stories,” she said on Thursday.

The one-time neighbor also made her way into some of Kennedy’s columns, to the point that Graeber joked that she was in the news more than then-West Chester Mayor Tom Chambers. One column recounted Graeber’s brother advising people to have two sons, “one to be proud of and one to have a drink with.” Another came when Graeber was recovering from surgery, only to be told that “there’s a plate of lasagna coming your way.”

Kennedy’s ability to pull her readers into a simple but telling story about someone in the community did not surprise Graeber. “She was driven that way.”


Kennedy was born in Queens, N.Y. to the late Nick and Florence Kennedy. She graduated from Francis Lewis High School in Queens and later from Queens College.

She worked for the Hickman Retirement home and the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce performing various administrative roles.

Kennedy is survived by her son, Ryan McCabe of Fernandina Beach, Fla.; daughter-in-law Jessica McCabe; and her grandchildren, who affectionately called her G-Dots, Laura and Jim McCabe; and brothers, Richard Kennedy of Tampa, Fla., and Joel Kennedy of Syosset, N.Y.

She is predeceased by her son, James Francis McCabe, and her husband, John Nicholson.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday July 19, 2025 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Iron Hill Brewery, 3 W. Gay St. West Chester.