Dorothy Noll “Dot” Hostage passed away peacefully at her home in Vero Beach, Florida, on March 22, 2026, surrounded by her loving family. She was the wife of 69 years to the late G. Michael Hostage II, who passed in January 2024.
Born in Clifton, New Jersey, on July 24, 1932, Dot was raised on a dairy farm in Montclair as one of two daughters born to Valentine and Margaret Noll. She was preceded in death by her sister, Marilyn Noll Orth, who passed on the same day, March 22, in 2006.
Dot graduated from Montclair High School in spring 1950, matriculating to Cornell University, where she met her beloved Mike. They were married on June 19, 1954, just weeks after their graduation ceremony.
Dot was the mother of ten children. She ran a tight ship and was a master organizer. Over the years she created many family traditions around birthdays and holidays that carry on with her descendants.
She was also a loving grandmother to 39 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren. She never forgot a birthday or a Christmas gift and her favorite thing in the world was hosting her kids and their families at the family Beach House with the sign that read “Grandma’s House – Where Cousins Come To Become Best Friends.”
Dot and Mike raised their family with a spirit of fun and adventure, including annual trips on the family bus to destinations in Florida at springtime, and Canada in summertime for camping and family bonding. These are precious memories shared by their children and many friends of the extended Hostage clan.
As a mother, she was the kind of parent who told you what you needed to hear even if you did not want to hear it…the mark of a good parent. As a grandmother, she shared in the joys and pains of parenthood with her children and provided sound counsel at all times. She kept close tabs on the lives of her grands and great-grands with loving care.
Dot had a unique connection to each of her children, and her passing marks the close of an era that she and Mike created together, leaving a legacy of kinship and family support that will honor their memory in the years to come.
The overwhelming feeling among her many loved ones is one of gratitude for someone who opened the book of life for so many and kept watch over them throughout her 93 years on this earth. Her children can envision a joyful reunion with Mike, whom she missed dearly, and also her daughter Peggy, whose ring she kept on her finger after Peggy died too soon in 1977 at age 21.
Visiting Hours will be held for the family on Sunday, March 29, 2026 at the Morris-Johnston Funeral Home, Southborough, MA
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:00AM on Monday, March 30, 2026 at St. Mathew’s Church, 105 Southville Road, Southborough, MA 01772. Burial will follow at Southborough Rural Cemetery, 11 Cordaville Road, Southborough, MA.
(Photo and Obituary via Morris-Johnston Funeral Home)
