Virgina Dooley, for years a friend and colleague of the late artist R.C. Gorman and a familiar fixture at Gorman's Navajo Gallery on Ledoux Street in Taos, died Friday afternoon at the age of 65, The Taos News reported.

Dooley was Gorman's dedicated protector, publicist, promoter and friend, and no one could get close to Gorman -- who died in December 2005 -- without first passing inspection by Dooley, according to the Taos paper.

The cause of Dooley's death at 1:45 p.m. Friday at Taos' Holy Cross Hospital wasn't released, but she reportedly had been in failing health for some time, the News reported.

Dooley was born March 7, 1943, in New York City, the daughter of Raymond N. Dooley and Lovilla Frederick Dooley, the paper said.

She moved with her family to central Illinois where her father was director of student services at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill., and was later president of Lincoln (Ill.) College, according to the News.

Dooley moved to Arizona where she taught music at St. Michael's Mission School and later took a job teaching music to schoolchildren in Taos, where she met Gorman -- at the time, a promising but unknown artist, the News reported.

It was Dooley who launched an early publicity campaign with posters and bumper stickers asking "Who Is R.C. Gorman?" with a silhouette of Gorman's profile, according to the News.

They worked together for more than three decades, the paper said.

Survivors include two brothers, William Paul Dooley of Kent, Conn., and Raymond W. Dooley of Belgrade, Serbia, and numerous cousins.

A Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Friday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Taos, and a funeral Mass will be celebrated at a time to be announced, the News reported.