Obituary of Janice Elaine Dodd

 

Janice Elaine Dodd passed away at her home near Carver, Oregon, on January 4th, 2020, at the age of 77. Janice is survived by her husband, Tedd; daughter, Denise; and brother Jerry.

 

Janice was born in a rock house in Oklahoma on February 7, 1942, to Art and Willa Kashwer. After the family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, she attended Sandia High School and started spending time with a neighbor boy, Tedd Dodd. The high school sweethearts married in 1961, shortly before Janice began working as a keypunch operator on the Sandia National Laboratories campus.

 

In 1969, the couple moved to Bakersfield, California, with their two dogs, Candy and Twinkle. Janice began working for Tenneco as a systems analyst, another role that involved an early form of computer programming. Among many other things, she was proud that her position enabled her to hire skilled women who may have otherwise been overlooked. In 1978, the rheumatoid arthritis she had been diagnosed with several years earlier became severe enough that she left the workforce.

 

In 1984, Tedd and Janice adopted a 2-year old daughter, Denise. Janice threw herself into being a mother; researching teaching techniques, becoming a weekly visitor to the local library, and encouraging the strong creative spirit she saw in her child. She continued advocating for adoption, taking Denise along to pro-life events as an example of an abortion alternative.

 

The family relocated to Oregon in the late 1980s, and Janice and her husband found a plot of land and began to build their own home. A skilled cook and baker, she took this opportunity to create the kitchen of her dreams with double wall ovens, a glasstop stove, and a built-in marble countertop perfect for rolling out dough. When Denise received an American Girl doll for her birthday one year, the sewing room upstairs became a production line for 18" pioneer dresses as Janice taught her how to make doll clothes instead of buying them. It was a hobby that blossomed into a small business, and they sold the clothing through the Oregon City Interpretive Center for many years.

 

In 2011, Janice traveled back to Oklahoma to meet the extended Kashwer clan at a family reunion; although she didn’t love the summer heat in Tahlequah, she enjoyed making many new connections.

 

Never pretentious, Janice enjoyed engaging with people everywhere she went, often ending up in conversations about motorcycle racing, dogs, or even the Twilight novels (she was resoundingly Team Edward.). She signed her emails as the “Crazy old lady that lives in the barn”, and loved sharing stories about the latest hijinks from the rottweilers that kept her company while Tedd was working. She was funny, sassy, and friendly, with a heart for animals and a fondness for blossoming plants in shades of pink and purple.

 

No funeral or reception is scheduled. Through many years of chronic pain, Janice was faithfully looking forward to her heavenly body, and she felt no need for money to be spent on an expensive service when the spirit has already gone on.

 

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Shepherd’s Door for Women and Children. 

https://www.portlandrescuemission.org/recovery-programs/shepherdsdoor/

The family would like to especially thank the Providence Hospice team for their support during December and January.

 

His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

Matthew 25:21 New King James Version (NKJV)