Sherry Dobbs
Sherry Dobbs was a dedicated mother, wife, grandmother and church member.
"She was there when you needed her," said Donna Houston, fellow Brummett-Harrah Circle of the Christian Women's Fellowship member. "And she loved her family very much."
Edna Mae "Sherry" Dobbs died at Boone Hospital Center on Friday, June 12, 2009. She was 89.
Mrs. Dobbs was born Nov. 1, 1919, in Cresson, Pa., to John and Nora (Montgomery) Sherwood.
She was a 1937 graduate of Cresson High School and a 1939 graduate of Johnstown Business School, both in Pennsylvania. She worked as a secretary for the Department of Defense during World War II and later at the MU Department of Plant Pathology. She retired in 1988 from her secretarial position with the United States Department of Agriculture Federal Crop Insurance Program.
She married Ralph C. Dobbs on July 14, 1946, in Cresson.
The two served as co-presidents of the Dudes & Dames Square Dance Club in Columbia for many years.
"Square dancing was her passion," her daughter, Sue Dobbs, said.
Her husband described her as very business-oriented and organized. Mrs. Dobbs served as president of the Columbia chapter of the American Business Women's Association. She also organized and wrote curriculum for a business program to retrain adults for new jobs at Mineral Area Community College during the 1960s.
"She just up and did it," Ralph Dobbs said. "She was a very fine lady who did a lot of good for a lot of people."
Mrs. Dobbs was a devoted member of First Christian Church in Columbia for the past 44 years, serving as a Sunday school teacher and member of the Brummett-Harrah Circle of the Christian Women's Fellowship.
Mrs. Dobbs was also a very family-oriented person. Sue Dobbs remembers her mother's Sunday dinners.
"She would make fried chicken and mashed potatoes," Sue Dobbs said. "She loved family gatherings."
Mrs. Dobbs is survived by her husband, Dr. Ralph C. Dobbs, MU professor emeritus; five daughters, Marilyn Schappert and Sherry Kaye Dobbs of Columbia, Jeanie Dobbs of Daly City, Calif., Dr. Sue Dobbs of Kansas City, and Carol Kvanvig of Waco, Texas; brother Harry Sherwood of Tallmadge, Ohio; grandchildren David Schappert and wife, Meghan, of Fairfax, Va., Phil Schappert and wife, Kathy (Toler), of Atlanta, Ga., Jared Kvanvig and wife, Savannah (Clemons), of Columbia, and Brittany Kvanvig of Waco, Texas; four great-grandsons and one great-granddaughter.
Five sisters and six brothers died earlier.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sun., June 14 at Memorial Funeral Home in Columbia. Services will be at 11 a.m. Mon., June 15 at First Christian Church in Columbia. Burial will follow at 2 p.m. at Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Jacksonville.
Memorial contributions can be made to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 30638, Columbia, Mo. 65205 or the Arthritis Foundation, 8390 Delmar Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. 63124.
