Dolores L Cracchiolo

Dolores Louella La Venture Cracchiolo

Dolores (LaVenture) Cracchiolo, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother of Huntington Beach, California, passed away on March 24, 2021 of Covid-19.  Born in Detroit, Michigan, to Orville LaVenture and Elsie DuBlanc LaVenture, Dolores’s early years were filled with great adventure, bravery, love, and sorrow.  Her love of travel started early.  At age 5, she rode a bus solo to Kalamazoo and traveled with a carnival for two years––with her favorite auntie and uncle––and later rode a bus solo to California at age 12 to stay with family. 

Feeling adult-level responsibility for her widowed mother and four younger siblings after her father’s early death during the Great Depression, Dolores started working at the age of 13.  She impressively saved up enough money to buy her mother and siblings their own home before she got married at age 17.

She met her husband, Frank Marconi Cracchiolo, when she was just 15 years old and working in an ice cream parlor.  She was married to Frank for 54 years, and together they built a family foundation filled with love, stories, delicious home cooked meals, ice cream sundaes, jokes, dancing, singing, passionate arguments, and an ability to elevate anyone’s spirits.

Dolores’s love of Southern California from her tween years inspired her husband and family to move to California in 1949.  She wore many hats: telephone operator, marketer, pre-school teacher, Campfire Girl leader, and eventually sales representative at Teacher Created Materials––a company founded by her daughter.

After losing her husband in 2002, she took a year to mourn the loss, moved to a home on the same street as two granddaughters, and lived with another granddaughter.  Surrounded by her family and friends, she traveled on more than 30 trips––the most memorable being her 85th birthday adventure to Australia and New Zealand with 23 family members.  She continued to make dear friendships and positive impressions on others until her final day.

Her family is truly thankful for the team of caregivers that held her hand and provided support during the pandemic.

Dolores, age 90, will be missed by those she leaves behind: daughter Rachelle Cracchiolo (Donald White), son Salvator Cracchiolo (Barbara), granddaughter Corinne Burton (Brian), grandson Frank Cracchiolo (Meredith), granddaughter Deanne Mendoza, granddaughter Dori Harrison (Scott), great grandchildren Rachelle, Amelia, Katherine, Marconi, William, Robert, Dominic, Lola, and Angela, sister Sue Maracle, brother Tony LaVenture (Donna), four sisters-in-law, 28 nieces and nephews, and many great nieces, nephews, and friends.   

Dolores will be interred in a private family ceremony in compliance of Covid-19 restrictions. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to:

Dream Catchers (an axillary of Assistance League Huntington Beach)

8071 Slater Ave. Suite 105, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 

Please make checks payable to:  DreamCatchers––in memory of Dolores Cracchiolo

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