Mabel Dodson
(Nee Kellogg)
Age 97, was born on October 9 1914 in Gary, Indiana to George Clyde and Augusta (Schwanke) Kellogg. She lived in Gary most of her life and often shared with the family her memories of all the neighborhoods and landmarks of the city she loved. Before her marriage, she worked as an elevator operator in Gary National Bank building and loved having dinners and post-choir practice snacks at Hotel Gary's Hoosier Grill. Her children attended Emerson and Horace Mann schools. She gave her time as a Republican precinct worker. To her, City Methodist Church, where she anchored the alto section of the church choir for 35 years, was the epicenter of the city. She also sang in several church productions, such as Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ, a liturgical version of Wagner's Parsifal, as well as presentations of Handel's The Messiah; and she soloed in the Seaman Hall concert presentation of Jerome Kern's Showboat. During the family's two-year residence in Johnston City, Illinois, she established and directed the Methodist Church's children's choir and sang in trio broadcasts on local radio. Mabel loved watching the championship Horace Mann band on parade with her son as drum major in the early 1950's and harmonizing with her teen-age daughter while doing nightly dishes together. She also loved a good round of bridge, playing the game almost every decade of her adult life. Never much of a traveler, her life revolved around her immediate and extended families, church, and music. She had a great curiosity, a deep respect for education, and she loved to learn.Mabel was a wonderful model of loving devotion, of a generous and loyal heart, and of Christian life. She believed in the potential of everyone.Mabel lost her brother, George Kellogg, and all her sisters, Muriel Breck, Mildred Cato, Ethel Zieski, and Irene Berg, and a niece, Ethel Kalcic, as well as her husband, Charles S. Dodson, long before she fell ill. Surviving are her son, Charles Brooks (Mary Kay) Dodson, Green Bay, Wisconsin, daughter, Linda Fry (friend Colette Lewandowski), Hobart, her grandchildren, Sarah Lorraine Dodson-Knight, Lafayette, Colorado, and Matthew Brooks Dodson, Rockville, Maryland, and two great-grandchildren Griffin Brooks Knight and Gwyneth Kellamarie Knight. She is also survived by nephews Lance Scott Dodson and Mark Kellogg, nieces Barbara Brooks Wagner, Sharon Clark, Barbara Hall, Carolyn Funes, and their children and families.
We will all remember the way she led Christmas carols at each annual family Christmas party, along with her enthusiastic rendition of "Happy Birthday" at family celebrations.Funeral services and visitation will be held from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon at the Rees Funeral Home – Hobart Chapel, 600 West Old Ridge Road, Hobart on Saturday, January 7, 2012, with a funeral service at 12:00 noon. Burial will be held at 10:00 am on Monday, January 9, 2012 directly at the Lakeview Cemetery, Rural Route 1, Johnston City, Illinois. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established in the activities department at Miller's Merry Manor, 5911 Lute Road, in Portage or to the Humane Society of Hobart, 2054 East Highway 130, Hobart.