Obituary

Martha Gean Dodds
(September 12, 1926 - March 21, 2011)

Martha Gean Dodds, 84, of Barboursville, passed away Monday, March 21, 2011 at the Emogene Dolin Jones Hospice House. Funeral services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at the Steele Memorial United Methodist Church, by Rev. Dr. John Sauvage, Rev. Ralph Sager and Rev. Julia Bolling. Burial will be in White Chapel Memorial Gardens. She was born September 12, 1926 in Huntington, a daughter of the late Charles R. and Ella McComas Bias. She was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth Dodds; sister, Mary Elizabeth Clay; and brothers, Charles (Bill) and Robert (Bob) Bias. Martha was a graduate of Huntington High School, 1944, where she was champion of table tennis at the school, graduated from St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing in 1947, and also attended Marshall College. She was a member of the Steele Memorial United Methodist Church, where she sang in the church choir and taught Sunday School for several years. She had worked for the American Red Cross. She retired from the Barboursville Veterans Home where she was the Director of Nursing. She also enjoyed vacationing a month of the year at Myrtle Beach. She is survived by her two daughters and sons-in-law, Julia and Blaker Bolling and Peggy and Bittner Ballard, all of Huntington; three sisters-in-law, Margaret Dodds of Barboursville, Janet Dow of California, and Alice Bias of Barboursville; four grandchildren, J.K. Fife and his wife, Ginger, Joshua Fife, Winston and Thomas Bolling and two great-grandchildren, Lauren and Jacob Fife. Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Huntington, Box 464, Huntington, WV, 25709 or Martha's Little Lambs Trust Fund, C/O First State Bank, Box 295, Barboursville, 25504.  Visitation will be after 12:00 noon Wednesday at the Steele Memorial United Methodist Church. Wallace Funeral Home, Barboursville, is in charge of arrangements.