Frances Marie Dodds

Frances Marie Dodds, 70, formerly of Danville, Iowa, passed away peacefully Monday in Columbus, Ohio, after a brief bout with cancer. She was the wife of the late Robert Dodds, a Des Moines County state senator and founder of the Danville-based Bob Dodds Insurance agency.

Mrs. Dodds worked in the Iowa State Capitol as an administrative assistant to her husband during his state senate years and remained a keen and enthusiastic observer of the American political scene throughout her life. She was a full partner in the growth of the family insurance business, helping to manage the firm upon her husband?s death and overseeing the sale of the business to the Danville State Savings Bank. Earlier in her career, she worked as a secretary at Champion Spark Plugs in Burlington.

Mrs. Dodds also worked closely with her husband in his service as a lay Baptist minister in the southeastern Iowa region.

Mrs. Dodds leaves behind a large family, including her children, Jeff Dodds of Coralville, Lisa Bartruff also of Coralville, Degee Wilhelm of Bexley, Ohio, Luana Lambert of Burlington, and Tami Dodds of Quincy, Illinois, fourteen grandchildren, and four siblings, Judy Ness of Oquawka, Illinois, Robert Carter of West Burlington, Bev Lupardus of Canton, Missouri, and Cindy Brown of Dallas, Texas.

Mrs. Dodds was born in Canton, Missouri, and was the daughter of Robert Hall and Julia Watson Carter. She was a 1957 graduate of Burlington High School.

A graveside memorial service that is open to the public will be held Saturday, July 31, at 10:30am, at Jagger Cemetery, in Danville. To honor Mrs. Dodds? great love of animals, especially cats, the family asks that, in lieu of gifts or flowers, contributions be sent to the Des Moines County Humane Society, 2000 N. Roosevelt, Burlington, Iowa, 52601.