Charlene “Chazy” Dowaliby

Chazy Dowaliby, retired executive editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy and The Enterprise of Brockton, died Monday, December 9, 2019 at Massachusetts General Hospital after a long battle with cancer. She was 69 and had been living in Newbury after many years in Quincy.

Her first newspaper stint was at the Eagle Tribune in Lawrence, her hometown. Among more routine assignments, she covered Woodstock and interviewed Janis Joplin.

In 1972, she left a job at Boston City Hall in 1972 to work for Joe Biden’s longshot run for Senate, quickly moving into the role of press secretary. After Biden’s election, she stayed on his staff for a year, left and didn’t see him again until he invited her to his inauguration as vice president.

Returning to journalism, Ms. Dowaliby was a reporter in New York and New Jersey before becoming an editor with Ingersoll Publishing. She served as president, publisher and chief operating officer of the company’s Suburban Newspapers of Northern New Jersey and later as editorial director of Ingersoll newspapers in England and three national publications in Dublin.

In 1991, she founded Chazy Dowaliby and Associates, a consulting firm that specialized in start-ups, internal communications strategies and image creation in northern Europe and Malta.

At The Enterprise and The Patriot Ledger, she conceived and served as the driving force of the newspapers’ holiday funds, Helping Hands and Lend A Hand, which have raised more than $3 million over 21 years  to help hundreds of needy residents of southeastern Massachusetts.

In 2016, she was inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.

After stepping down as editor, she took a job as director of communications, marketing and outreach of the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. She retired in 2018.

She leaves three sisters and their families.

A private memorial service is being planned for January.

Donations may be sent in her name to Lend A Hand, The Patriot Ledger, 2 Adams Place, Quincy 02169, or call 617-424-9825; Helping Hands, The Enterprise, Box 2866, Brockton 02305 or call 781-340-2028, or to Massachusetts General Hospital, Development Office, 125 Nashua St., Suite 540, Boston 02114.