Norma B. Dalton of Wappingers Falls, NY, passed away peacefully Monday, September 13, 2021, after a long illness. Norma was the beloved wife of Leo J. Dalton, who survives her after 67 years of married life. Norma and Leo married on January 2, 1954, and raised their four children Joan, Mark, Anne and John in Dutchess County.
Born in Newburgh, NY, on January 14, 1928, Norma loved and cared for her parents, Dr. Joseph N. Bellino and Mrs. Kathryn K. Bellino. She was the eldest of four children, Dr. Joseph Bellino, Richard Bellino, deceased, and Mrs. Kathyrn Ann Graham. Norma attended the former Mt. St. Mary's School in Newburgh and received a bachelor's degree from Syracuse University in 1949.

Norma's life was filled with great love for her family, and she expressed her love moment to moment by mothering her four sometimes rambunctious children. She was a great conversationalist and correspondent who wrote elegant letters to friends and family, as well as hundreds of cards for birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries, each with carefully composed notes of succinct and charming sentiment.

Travel fueled Norma's soul and imagination. She returned multiple times to Italy, the Caribbean and Maine, and often shared memories of these journeys at the family dinner table.

Norma had a great eye for beauty—in her garden, in her collection of angel artwork, and in dress. She loved going to the theatre in New York with friends and family and in later life found joy in homespun painting. One of her most stunning accomplishments was a three-story hand painted dollhouse that thrilled her granddaughter, Anya Aliferis.

Norma and Leo met while working at IBM in Poughkeepsie when Norma worked as a technician testing bombsight navigation computers. After raising her children, Norma worked selling furniture at Sears in Wappingers Falls. She also worked as a substitute teacher for the Wappingers Central School District. Gregarious and outgoing, Norma enjoyed both her customers and pupils and brought spark to those sometimes challenging jobs. She frequently returned home with stories of people she had met and the occasional student whose behavior she corrected, either delicately or bluntly, depending on the circumstances.

Norma is survived by her husband, Leo J. Dalton, of Wappingers Falls, and her children, Joan Dalton, of Hopewell Junction, Mark Dalton and his wife, Joyce Rambo, of Albany, Anne Dalton, Ph.D., and her husband Heinz Insu Fenkl of Poughkeepsie, and John Dalton of Wappingers Falls. Norma and Leo have two grown granddaughters, Anya Aliferis of Brooklyn, NY and Isabella Dalton-Fenkl of Poughkeepsie.

The eldest of the four Bellino children, Norma will also be dearly missed by her brother, Dr. Joseph Bellino and his wife Clarice, as well as her sister, Kathryn Ann Graham, her husband Donald Graham, and their two daughters, Amy and Melanie Graham. Norma is also loved and fondly remembered by Diane Liccardi, mother of Anya Aliferis.