Deborah Louise Dodge

DEBORAH LOUISE DILL DODGE February 12, 1958 – August 20, 2021 Deborah Louise Dodge was predeceased by the love of her life, Thomas Dodge, her grandparents Virgil Ralph and Mary Louise Walker Watts, and her father Harold Wayne Dill. Survivors include son, Joseph Thomas Dodge, Lonsdale, AR, Alora Louise Dodge, Lonsdale, AR, mother Virginia (Ginna) Watson, step-father Robert L. Watson, L.R. AR, and brother Dean Cecil Dill, Las Animas, CO. Many people spoke of Deborah as having an “old soul”. She never sought more tangible goods than what it took to survive, and she was satisfied, even proud, to have what little she had. Her jewels were her husband, who lived less that a month after diagnoses of Cancer, her children, her mother, step-father, brother and her very close friends. She had the ability to see that all people had some good within them and she freely gave her love. To become a friend to Deborah meant friendship for as many years as she had left to live. If Deborah had only enough food for one day, and a hungry stranger asked for it, the stranger would receive what was left after taking care of her children first. She had a very strong faith in the universe and her ability to provide for her and her children, no matter what it took. Deborah was very happily married and living in Colorado but moved to Arkansas after her husband’s death. She brought what could be carried in a car along with her five-year-old son and infant daughter. Deborah totally devoted her life to caring for her children. Being a mother fulfilled her life. When her husband died, she said that she married him for the rest of her life and she could not imagine being married to anyone but Thomas Dodge. She was determined to have a home of her own and stayed with her mother and step-father only three weeks after arriving in Arkansas. She dedicated her life to nurturing her children and keeping her little family independent. Before marriage and children, Deborah’s education, after high school, included Para-Legal training and working for private attorneys. She also excelled in tele-marketing, being honored with her employers annual President’s Recognition Award. Learning came easy for Deborah, keeping her on the honor roll without spending a lot of time studying. She earned all high school credits and became eligible to graduate a year early. She then attended the University of Arkansas Little Rock. Due to an accident which caused trauma to her spine, Deborah became totally disabled at fifty years old. She was confined to a wheel chair but continually said she would leave this wheel chair behind and walk someday, which she did by sheer determination. She was in constant pain but that did not stop her from taking care of her home and her children. Extensive spinal surgery gave her hopes of, one day, leaving her walker behind like she did her wheel chair. In death, she is freely walking again with Thomas Dodge, her true love, who gave her two beautiful children. Following Deborah’s request, and the service she had for her husband, the family will celebrate her life and love with a closed service.

Deborah Louise Dodge

February 12, 1958 - August 20, 2021