Dorothy Argyros

Dorothy Argyros, daughter of Besse and Richard Strasburger was born on April 29th, 1928, and died on May 4th, 2023 at the age of ninety-five. Dorothy was a resident of Neptune, NJ, who lived in her home on Tenth Avenue for over forty years before it was taken from her via Eminent Domain. She spent the last months of her life in Needham, Massachusetts with her daughter Ellen.

Dorothy cared deeply about social justice issues and tried to make the world a fairer, kinder place especially for the marginalized and forgotten. She worked as a lawyer and activist, but she was also an artist, who specialized in making drawings and paintings of nudes. 

After working as a legal secretary at Charlie and Abe Klitzman’s law firm, the fifty-year-old Dorothy attended law school, after her second husband died. She was given a Monmouth County Bar Scholarship and attended Rutgers Law School, from which she graduated in 1980.

She practiced law for a short time and then decided to use her legal expertise to help those in need. She founded Lunch Break, an organization to feed the homeless. She did civil disobedience in Washington, DC, spending a night in jail with her friend Sister Alice Kelsey in order to help Mitch Snyder in his efforts to draw attention to the plight of the homeless. 

She worked tirelessly for eight years to ensure that the old Bradley Park playground in Neptune, NJ would be lead-free, so that the children and teens of Tenth Avenue could play safely. 

When she found out that Eminent Domain was being used to target the homes and businesses of people in Monmouth County, she got a copy of the list of targeted homes and businesses and drove down Highway 35, alerting those whose property was being targeted. 

An active, conscientious citizen, Dorothy attended Neptune town council meetings and fought passionately for what she believed. She also enjoyed having lunch at the Neptune Senior Center with her friends there.

If a friend or loved one was in trouble, Dorothy would do whatever she could to help. On one occasion she used her legal expertise to save the home of a single mother of three whose husband had stopped paying the mortgage. Dorothy explained the situation to the judge, who agreed to allow the single mother to retain her home and pay the mortgage on it.

Joseph Blake was her first husband; Takis Argyros, her second. She is survived by her two daughters: Cathy Blake and Ellen Argyros. In addition to her two beloved daughters, Dorothy is the grandmother of three cherished grandsons: Ryan Gendel, Zachary Schaphorst and Max Schaphorst. She always loved being visited or phoned by her many nieces, nephews and devoted friends and loved sitting outside on summer evenings to watch the birds and talk politics.

When Dorothy ascends to heaven, she won’t be playing the harp. She will be organizing the angels for better pay and benefits.

A celebration of her life will be held at a later date in the Neptune area.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Dorothy Argyros, please visit our floral store.