Martha Charlotte Dodson

A celebration of life for Martha Charlotte Dodson, 87, Lawrence, will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Warren-McElwain Mortuary. Mrs. Dodson died Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007, at Windsor of Lawrence. She was born on March 27, 1920, in Wynona, Okla., to Herman H. and Cora Ellen Estes Downing. Mrs. Dodson moved to Lawrence in 2004.She graduated from high school in Stroud, Okla. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Oklahoma. She taught speech at the University of Oklahoma and in Oklahoma City public schools. She was also a homemaker and worked as a youth director for Wesley United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. After completing her Master of Arts degree, she returned to work for Oklahoma City public schools. Mrs. Dodson moved in 1963 to Topeka, where she worked as a neuropsychological examiner for the Menninger Foundation and later as a guidance counselor in the Seaman school district. Upon retirement, she served as national sponsor for the Kappa Phi Club for Christian college women and was active in Kansas Coalition on Aging and in PEO. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church of Topeka.She married Leonard E. Dodson Sr. on July 18, 1943, in Stroud, Okla. He survives, of the home.Other survivors include one son, Leonard E. Dodson Jr. and wife Jackie, Amarillo, Texas; one daughter, Charlotte E. Knoche and husband Harry, Lawrence; her grandchildren Katie and husband Tony Gilman and their children Jordan and Hayden, Austin, Texas; Marnie and Sompop Noiwan, Fairfax, Va., David and wife Jessica Dodson and their children Samuel, Maxwell, Tabitha and Elijah, Fort Mill, S.C.; Emily Dodson, Austin, Texas; Lillian Mason and husband Aaron Paden and son Arlo, Lawrence; and Natalie Mason, Emporia.Memorial contributions may be made to Martha C. Dodson Memorial Fund and sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary. Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com, subject: Dodson.