Beth Holloway Dodson's Obituary
Beth Holloway Dodson was born in Longview, Texas on August 19, 1935 to MaeBeth McHaney Holloway and William Holloway. She died on March 7, 2019 after a long illness.
Beth graduated from Longview High School in 1953 and married her high school sweetheart, Bill Dodson on April10, 1954. They were happily married for over 64 years until Bill’s death in 2018.
Beth was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Bill, daughter, Ann and sister, Ann Holloway Moore. Survivors include her son, Gary Dodson; granddaughters, Lauren and Shannon Dodson; sisters, Carol Holloway and Gail Holloway Schaedel (Plano); niece, Elizabeth Moore Holland; and other nieces, nephews and cousins.
Beth received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education in 1967 and her Master’s Degree in Library Science in 1972. She began her career as a 4th grade teacher at South Ward Elementary School in 1967, but quickly moved to become the head Librarian at Foster Middle School. She retired in 2013 at the age of 78 after overseeing the installation and opening of the new library at the newly built Foster Middle School Campus. During her 46 year career Beth mentored and touched the lives of countless children as they spent many hours in her library during their middle school years.
Born into a family with strong ties to the beginnings of Longview, Beth was proud of her heritage. Her great-great-grandfather, O.H. Methvin, whose corn fields and pecan orchard later became the site of the Gregg County Courthouse, her great-grandparents who were all charter members of the First Christian Church, her great-grandfather who served as its first pastor, and her maternal grandfather who served as Gregg County Judge were some of the reasons she was an avid historian. Beth was active in the Gregg County Historical Museum Foundation serving on the board for many years and was very active in historical preservation in Longview and Gregg County. She made it her mission to personally research and petition for Official Texas State Historical Designations which she secured and installed on countless historic sites throughout Longview and Gregg County. And finally everyone who knew Beth knows that this tribute would not be complete without mentioning her obsessive love of cats and her collections of all kinds of cat memorabilia, making her the quintessential crazy cat lady. The family wishes to express their gratitude for the care she has received at Heartis of Longview and more recently for the compassion and love she was given by the wonderful folks from Compass Hospice. Beth’s wishes were that there would be no service and that anyone wishing to make a memorial donation might consider The Gregg County Historical Museum, Compass Hospice of Longview and The Animal Protection League of Longview.
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