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McLaughlin dies of cancer
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
STRUTHERS
Dorothy McLaughlin, a trailblazer among women in Mahoning County law enforcement and a longtime leader in local Democratic Party politics and veterans’ affairs, died at her Struthers residence Thursday morning after a multiyear battle with cancer.
She was born Dec. 1, 1923, in Struthers. She was 86.
Arrangements are pending at Cunningham-Becker Funeral Home, Poland chapel.
She was among the first female Mahoning County sheriff’s deputies and among the first women assigned to the sheriff’s road patrol.
McLaughlin’s 10 years of service with the sheriff’s department began in 1977 and spanned the administrations of four sheriffs.
“She will be sadly missed by our department. She was a big supporter of the department and of our country,” said Sheriff Randall Wellington.
“She was a very generous person. She was always having fundraisers for various charities. She was good to veterans, especially disabled veterans,” said Danielle O’Neill, a clerk at the board of elections, where McLaughlin worked part time from 1994 to 2008.
“This is a day of great sadness for every member of the Democratic Party and the Mahoning Valley,” said Atty. David Betras, county Democratic chairman. “Dorothy McLaughlin worked tirelessly to make her community, her state and her nation better places. ... Her voice and her guidance will be missed by all of those who regularly called on her for advice and support.”
As a Democratic state central committeewoman, she cast the sole vote against ousting Marc Dann from the Ohio Democratic Party in May 2008 before a sexual-harassment scandal toppled him from his post as state attorney general. McLaughlin defended her vote, saying at that time, she wasn’t convinced of any specific wrongdoing by Dann.
She was inducted into the Mahoning County Democrat Hall of Fame in 2005 and was a Democratic precinct committeewoman for more than 55 years.
McLaughlin also was known for the many colorful and distinctive hats she wore.
One of her most notable was a Dr. Seuss hat decorated with a patriotic stars-and-stripes theme, with a stuffed donkey attached to its front, which she wore as a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Her first husband, William Kelly, was killed in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II.
Her dedication to veterans’ causes is reflected in her having been a member for more than 50 years of the VFW Post 7538 ladies’ auxiliary, of which she was president for more than 20 years.
Her second husband, Robert McLaughlin, a World War II veteran who was severely disabled by a back injury linked to his military service, died 10 years ago.