Obituary of Dorothy Merle Dodge

Dorothy Merle Tyler Dodge died on April 5th at her home at Parker Ridge in Blue Hill after a brief illness. Dottie was born in Brooklin, ME, on October 11, 1917, the youngest of eight children of Charles and Hattie (Anderson) Tyler. She graduated from Brooklin High School in 1935 and from the Maine School of Nursing at Portland General Hospital in 1939. She was employed at Blue Hill Hospital in 1941 when she met her future husband, John Parker Dodge, whose family lived in Chevy Chase, MD, and spent summers in Brooklin. They were married in Jacksonville, FL, in 1942 while John was serving in the U.S. Navy. After the war, Dottie and John lived and raised a family in Silver Spring and Bethesda, MD, returning to Brooklin every summer. After retirement in 1981, they lived and traveled seasonally between Maine, Maryland, and Florida, enjoying friends, family, bridge, and golf throughout the year. In 2002, they settled at Parker Ridge Retirement Community in Blue Hill and continued to spend the summers at their cottage in Brooklin. Dottie was a talented knitter, golfer, bridge player, and gardener, and enjoyed her large extended family. Dottie was predeceased by her husband, John, in 2010, and by all of her brothers and sisters. She is survived by two daughters, Susan Kircheis (Fred) of Carmel, ME, and Jane Kidder (David) of Freeport, ME; four grandchildren, 6 great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Simpson Memorial Library, P.O. Box 186, Carmel, ME 04419, or to the Friend Memorial Public Library, 1 Reach Road, Brooklin, ME 04616.