Dorothy Dietz Dodd

Dorothy Dodd was an amazing woman with quite a history. Her parents immigrated to the United States from a German speaking community in Odessa, Russia via Ellis Island in the early days of the last century. Dorothy came along on December 27, 1930 and was the youngest of 11 children. She grew up on Sauvie Island, Oregon, which is the largest island in the Columbia River. Her family raised their own meat, caught their own fish, and grew their own produce. Those were the real “Do It Yourself” days! Dorothy was the only one in her family to graduate from high school.

Dorothy married Jack Dodd in 1951 in Portland, Oregon. Jack served in the US Armed Forces in the Korean War. He was a salesman for Voight Rubber which was the company that manufactured tires for the moon rover. Jack didn’t want Dorothy to work so she was a housewife until Jack passed away after a heart attack in 1980. After his passing Dorothy worked at a coffee shop in Edmonds. She started as a server and eventually managed the establishment.

Dorothy loved boating and she and Jack had a cabin cruiser for many years. One of the great Dorothy stories had to do with her relationship with a very special 1954 Corvette. The story illustrates something about the wonderful tenacity and character that described Dorothy. Jack and Dorothy found a rusted out 1954 Corvette and had a dream of restoring it. When they purchased the car it was barely drivable! Dorothy found a body shop that would store it for her, with the agreement that she would do the leg work to find the needed parts. One day another customer came in and couldn’t believe that it was even there in that shop. The body shop owner jokingly commented that there’s a woman who thinks that she will find and get all of the needed parts. But he soon discovered it was never a good idea to mock a determined woman.  Over the next few years Dorothy called wrecking yards and followed leads all over the country.  If she found a part as close as California, she would drive there to inspect and hopefully bring it back with her. She had an eye for beauty and wanted perfection. Dorothy was sitting in church recently when a man in the congregation greeted Dorothy and explained that he was her UPS driver for many years. He was the person who delivered a Corvette to her part by part. A lot of work, a lot of time, and much love resulted in a beautiful red convertible Corvette. Her faithful German Shepherd always sat beside her on the many, drives in that restored car.  She made her dream a reality. Remember the man who originally question the shop owner about the piece of junk? Many years later he ended up buying and driving “that piece of junk”.  And with a twist of fate, he was the same person who invited Dorothy to a church, where he was going to be a guest speaker. She responded to his invitation and from then until the day she died, she was a faithful member of North Sound Church.

Dorothy is survived by her nephews Jason Cawley and Don Dietz along with her nieces Laurie James, Barbara Childrey, and Julianne Harris. A memorial service will be held for Dorothy at North Sound Church (404 Bell Street, Edmonds) on Sunday, April 27, at 1:30pm. A reception will follow.