Dorothy N. Basile

Dorothy (Dotty) Basile was born on October 21, 1936.  She was the adored first child of Joseph and Betty Moore.  Her mother was an Irish immigrant, who entered the United States all alone in her late teens.   

Betty was smitten with American movies, especially musicals.  In spite of the financial difficulties of almost all American families in the thirties, Betty scrounged up enough money to enroll her very young daughter in dancing lessons.  It was the beginning of a lifetime of love for music and the performing arts.   

Dotty started out as a tap dancer.  She performed in recitals and musicals all around the now booming Youngstown.  She was natural.  Dead ringer for Shirley Temple, her proud mother used to say.  Dotty loved performing and audiences loved her.  Her love for dance and music shone through her smiling face at every performance.  At eight years old, Betty took it up a notch and Dotty started piano lessons.  Live music was always heard in the house after that.  Dotty’s friends would visit and gather around that piano.  They would sing and dance to Dotty’s music.  She was in her element at that old piano entertaining her friends.   

When Dotty was twelve years old, her mother took her back to Scotland to meet the family.  Most of Betty’s family had moved to Scotland to work in the mines because work was scarce in Ireland.  It was there that Dotty became the Scottish dancer.  In her summer visit, her loving extended family taught her the music of the Highlands.  She also mastered the Scottish dance, the Highland Fling.  When she left, her family gifted her with a complete Scottish dance ensemble.  She brought it all back with her.  The music, the dance, the kilt and the beret. Throughout her teens, she performed her Scottish dance at Ursuline High School when she was a student there and at many Celtic events in the Youngstown area.  Betty couldn’t have been prouder. 

When she was thirteen years old, she took her artistic skills up another notch and began roller skating.  Roller skating was all the rage back then.  Her considerable dancing skills and musicality were transferred to competitive roller skating. She won many skating medals in her teens and her biggest accomplishment was placing third in the State of Ohio when she was 17. 
 

It was the love of skating that brought her another love of her life.  She met Gene Basile as a young teen when they were skating at Boardman Roller Rink.  It was love at first sight and they were together the rest of their lives.  They married in 1961 at St. Patrick Church in Youngstown Ohio.  Gene spent his career with the newly developing information technology industry and became Deacon at St. Jude Parish in Columbiana in 1985. Gene passed away in 1998. 

Two years later, in her mid-sixties, Dotty decided to travel to Montana to visit her sister Mary.  This trip was the first time Dotty ever traveled alone.  While planning the trip around Montana, Mary remembered the performing artist sister from her youth and took Dotty to visit Virginia City, Montana, home of the Virginia City Players vaudeville show.  Dotty had a wonderful time that weekend.  The next summer Dotty volunteered for the Virginia City Players. 

Dotty spent the summer rediscovering herself.  She was surrounded by fellow performing artists. She found her footing.  The Director was so impressed with her kindness, hard work, and loving personality, that he dedicated his master’s thesis to the “Most special person in the world, Dotty Basile.”   He called her every Fourth of July since her summer there and sang her favorite song, “There’s a Fairy in Your Garden." 

For 30+ years Dotty volunteered at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Youngstown.  She enjoyed her time there and made wonderful friends with her fellow volunteers.  And then there was her “Club”, a group of women that all graduated together from Ursuline High School in 1954.  These women were more than life-long friends, they were family.  

Dotty is lovingly remembered by her sister Mary (Norm) Kamensky, brother Tom (Kathy) Moore, daughter Kim (George) Cervone, her sons Brad Basile, and Kevin (Crystal) Basile and two grandchildren, Carter Basile and Morgan Basile, along with nieces and nephews. 

The family will receive relatives and friends on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at Lane Funeral Home, Canfield Chapel, from 10:00 AM until 12:00 PM. Pastor Al Maiden will officiate a Prayer Service at 12:00 PM at the funeral home.  In lieu of flowers the family has asked memorial contributions be made to Hospice of the Valley. To share thoughts of sympathy, visit lanefunenralhomes.com.