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Additional
Obituaries
Bob &
Delores participated in
a couple of Rosemary's "Salute to the
Songwriters" which
were benefit concerts for
the "Betty Clooney
Foundation"
Arriving
at Rosemary's wedding to
Dante 1997
At Rosemary
& Dante's wedding reception
At Dolores'
90th Birthday Celebration
At Rosemary's
Beverly Hills Memorial Service
Dolores
& Rosemary Mentions
[Rosemary's
1997]billing was shared with Dolores
Hope who, with her smoky, midnight sound and immaculate phrasing,
opened the concert with the Harold Arlen-Yip Harburg-Billy Rose standard "It's
Only a Paper Moon." She sang this standard tune more than 60 years earlier at
the Vogue Club in Manhattan on the night she was introduced to a rising comedian
in the audience named Bob Hope, who was then starring on Broadway. Rosemary and Dolores sang several duets that wowed the
audience. Then Michael Feinstein performed a rousing tribute to Al Jolson. In
the finale, Hope himself joined the singers in Cole Porter's "De-Lovely." I
recall that Nick Perito conducted the top-flight orchestra in what may well be
termed a clinic for all singers. "She's my protege," Rosemary would say about
Dolores
Hope, who began her own singing career so many years ago.
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Mrs. Dolores Hope (1909 - 2011)
Born Dolores DeFina on May 27, 1909,
New
York, New York, USA
Died on September 19, 2011
Toluca Lake,
California, USA
Sept. 19,
2011 - Dolores DeFina Hope, singer, philanthropist and wife of
comedian Bob Hope, died today at the age of 102 of natural causes.
She
was born in Harlem New York in 1909 and died at her home in Toluca Lake
California of natural causes. Dolores Reade was singing at the Vogue Club in
Manhattan when she was introduced to rising Broadway star Bob Hope. As he
described it, it was “love at first song”. They were married for nearly seventy
years. The Hopes moved to California in the late thirties so that Bob could
pursue his film and radio careers. They built a home in Toluca Lake where she
lived until her death. Bob and Dolores adopted four children and Dolores became
an advocate for adoption, serving on the board of Holy Family Adoption Services
in Los Angeles. She was a lifelong Catholic and a proud member of St. Charles
Borreomeo Church in North Hollywood, where she gave much time and financial help
over the years to various parish causes including the building of the Lady of
Hope chapel and the Holy Family Social Service Center. Throughout her life
Dolores was devoted to Catholic causes especially those directly benefiting the
poor.
She and Bob were members of Lakeside Golf Course where she was runner
up to the women's club champion for several years. The Hopes also had a home in
the Palm Springs area since the mid forties; Dolores worked with renowned
architect John Lautner designing their most recent home in the Southridge
Estates. The house quickly became a showplace and a venue for their various
desert social and charitable events including parties in conjunction with the
annual “Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.” Dolores was founding president of the
Eisenhower Medical center in Palm Desert and was intensely involved in the
building and décor of the hospital. From 1968 to 1976 she served as President of
its board and since 1977, its Chairman becoming Chairman Emeritus in the
nineteen nineties.
Though she accompanied her husband on many of his USO
trips to entertain the troops usually closing the show with a touching rendition
of “Silent Night” she really had put her singing career on hold to be at his
side and to raise their children. But at the age of eighty-three she revisited
a long postponed singing career, recording several albums and performing with
Rosemary Clooney in New York at “RAINBOW AND STARS” for several weeks and
receiving rave reviews. Throughout her life Dolores was a gracious hostess and
great asset to her world famous husband. She made her last visit to the
servicemen and women during “Operation Desert Storm” Performing “White
Christmas” from the back of a truck in the middle of the Saudi desert. She was
eighty-four at the time.
Dolores Hope was feted with six honorary degrees
and many awards for her humanitarian efforts, including: The Lifetime
Achievement Award for Humanitarian Services by the National Italian American
Foundation; the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (for her contributions Irish
heritage); the Magnificat Medal (1987) from Mundelein College, Chicago, for her
outstanding family, social, philanthropic and religious leadership; the Big
Shoulders Humanitarian Award; the St. Martin de Porres Award from the Southern
Dominican Foundation, New Orleans (1990); “Bob Hope 5 Star Civilian Award,” at
Valley Forge Military Academy; “Sprit of America Award” from the Institute for
the Study of Americans, for community service and commitment to her country;
“Living Legacy Award” for humanitarian efforts in San Diego; she participated in
the dedication of the Dolores Hope All Faiths Chapel in Ft. Walton Beach,
Florida, at the Air Force Enlisted Widow's Home in Bob Hope Village. In 2001
she was honored by the American Ireland Fund for a lifetime of work benefiting
Humanity and presented with a beautiful Waterford Harp.
Dolores Hope has
been the Honorary Mayor of Palm Springs five times and named “Woman of the Year”
by the Los Angeles Times. In 2008, she was honored in by the Ladies
Professional Golf Association with its Patty Berg Award for her contributions to
women's golf. Like her husband she was an avid golfer.
Dolores May
Philomena Veronica DeFina Hope is survived by her children Linda Hope of Toluca
Lake, California, William Kelly Hope of Oakland, California, and her
grandchildren, Zachary Hope, Miranda Hope, Andrew Hope Lande and great-grandson
Kai Smith.
Services are private and burial will be at the Bob Hope
Memorial Garden, San Fernando Mission - next to Bob.
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