Marblehead...

Dorothy Iva (Spellman) MacAskill, age 78, wife of Kenneth S. MacAskill, to whom she was married for 58 great years, died Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston from complications due to brain surgery. Born in Salem, she was the daughter of the late Francis J. and Iva (Lewis) Spellman. She attended Salem High School and graduated in 1955. After attending Salem Commercial, she went to work as a secretary at the State House in Boston for the Republican Floor Leader's Office from 1956 – 1957. Mrs. MacAskill was also employed as the secretary for the Head of Marblehead Highway Department from 1957 – 1959. After she and Ken moved to Lynnbrook, NY, she went to work at the law firm of Sullivan, Sculley and Thorp until 1961. She also worked at Commercial Bank as an office manager in the Loan Department until 1964.

Mr. and Mrs. MacAskill welcomed two adopted children into their family, son Scott in 1965, and daughter Susan in 1967. The family moved back to the North Shore in 1970 and settled in Lynnfield, then Peabody in 1973. Mrs. MacAskill held office manager positions at Pre-Legal Bureau, Hawthorne Nursing Registry and Boston Temps until her retirement to Marblehead in 1998.

Mrs. MacAskill and her husband enjoyed traveling together. They cruised to Alaska, Bermuda and the Carribean. They vacationed in Aruba, Florida, Las Vegas, Nashville, California and Myrtle Beach. They spent thirty years of summers and winters in a cabin on Square Pond in Shapleigh, Maine. Dotti loved playing cribbage at the Marblehead Senior Center and dancing at the Peabody Senior Center. She also enjoyed trips to Foxwoods.

Mrs. MacAskill is survived by her husband Kenneth MacAskill; son K. Scott MacAskill and his wife Cindee of Alameda, California; her daughter Susan J. MacAskill and her husband Paul of San Marcos, California; her two granddaughters Madelyn Diane and Caitlyn Rebecca of Alameda, California; sisters Margaret Goodwin and Mary Schaejbe of Salem; and brother Richard Spellman of Saco, Maine; and sister-in-law Jean MacAskill of Marblehead. She was preceded in death by sisters, Francis Leroux Benway, Elizabeth Spellman Picariello and brothers Bernard Spellman, William Spellman and James Spellman.

Her Funeral Service will be held at the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St., (cor. of North St.) Salem Monday morning, March 9th at 11:00 AM. Burial at Waterside Cemetery, Marblehead. Visiting hours will be held on Sunday, March 8th from 3:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, a donation on behalf of Dotti can be made to the Epilepsy Foundation, the American Heart Association or the Alzheimer's Foundation. For additional information please call 978 744 0497 or visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com.