Laura Rachel Dean Phelan

Laura Rachel Dean Phelan, 88, of Oreland, PA peacefully left this world on May 14th, 2026, and we will think of her in every sunlit room with the curtains flung open, every time our hands smell of tomato vines, in every cool breeze that ushers in a thunderstorm, and in each and every one of the small moments that thread a life together.

Born on January 4th, 1938, Laura, better known as Lolly, lived a full and happy life, on back porches and in gardens, in the hazy steam of a freshly reheated cup of tea, with a book permanently in her hands. As the oldest of 9 children, she was the matriarch of the family from birth. She helped raise her younger siblings and got her first job at 15 to help with the family finances. An early mentor saw her potential and taught her bookkeeping, a skill which would lead to positions at Philadelphia Electric, McNeil Labs, and Construction Equipment Guide.

At a dance at the Water Tower Rec Center in Chestnut Hill, Lolly met her husband Jay, who ran down the street to catch up to her after she’d left. They married in 1961 and raised 4 children in a Cape Cod on Surrey Road with a cherry tree out front and a swimming pool in the back that was always filled with family and friends.

She loved relentlessly and took no sh*t from anyone. She was the person you went to for advice. She was who you called when you just needed to hear the voice of someone who loved you. She always had tea and cookies waiting for your visit. She was a protector, a peacemaker, and an author of thousands of barely legible thank-you notes and birthday cards. Above all else, she will be remembered for the wonderful daughter, sister, mother, aunt, grandmother, gigi and friend that she was. She adored you, and you never had to wonder about that.

She is lovingly remembered by her daughters Jane Campbell (Andrew Zuzulock) and Laura Farrell, her son Thomas Phelan (Kathy), grandsons Daniel Campbell (Alison), Michael Campbell (Lauren Mann), Jeffrey Phelan (Angelica), Sean Farrell (Leah Sapp) and Cole Farrell (Holly), granddaughters, Megan Phelan (Michael Waite) and Casey Zuzulock, great grandchildren Wyatt and Jack Campbell and Yara Phelan and her siblings Marianna (Frank) Hashorva, Margie (Joseph) Donnelly, Elaine Dean, William Dean and Carl & Terri Dean.

She now joins in rest her husband Joseph (Jay) Phelan, her daughter MaryBeth Phelan, her parents, Ralph and Lucy Dean, her siblings Eddie Dean, Betsy Garoppo and Ellen Brown, and her sister-in-law Carol Ann (Jill) Phelan. To us, she was everything, and now, she is everywhere.

A Visitation will be held Tuesday, May 26th 10:00am at Holy Martyrs Church, 120 Allison Rd., Oreland, PA 19075. Funeral Mass at 11:00am. Interment Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.