MACHIAS – Dolores Elizabeth Manship Dodge, 88, of Machias, passed away on June 25, 2019, rejoining her beloved husband Philip R. Dodge on their 70th wedding anniversary. Dolores had been a resident at the Maine Veterans Home in Machias. Dolores was born on July 20, 1930 in Caribou, Maine. She was the daughter of Joseph C. “Joe” and Elanor “Ellen” (Noonan) Manship. Ellen passed away in July of 1935, just two days before Dolores’s fifth birthday. Thereafter Joe made the difficult decision to place Dolores with his brother Earl and sister-in-law Alice (Wilson) Manship, who became her adoptive parents. Earl was in the Border Patrol and the family was stationed variously in Vanceboro, Calais and Machias. Joe continued to live in Caribou, raising Dolores’s four full brothers. Dolores graduated from Machias High School in 1947. She attended the Mercy Hospital School of Nursing in Portland, Maine for one year before returning to Machias. She held a number of jobs including as a waitress. She once served Eleanor Roosevelt; Dolores remembered that Mrs. Roosevelt ordered a tuna fish sandwich and coffee. On June 25, 1949 Dolores and Phil married in Machias. They were devoted to each other until Phil’s death in 2018. Together they had three sons, David, Robert and John. Dolores was a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother and friend. Losing her birth mother at such an early age inspired a commitment to family that shaped her entire life. Her home was open to relatives and friends alike. Dolores offered unconditional support, a twinkling sense of humor and the comfort of a home cooked meal no matter the time of day or night that a visitor was believed—rightly or wrongly—to be hungry. Whether addressed as Dolores, Mom, Auntie Dodo or Grammie, she was there for all. Dolores was a founding member of the Down East Community Hospital Auxiliary and often volunteered at the hospital during the facility’s early years. She was active in Holy Name Parish and may still hold the record for most altar boy cassocks and surplices starched and ironed for her sons. She was a loyal hostess and competitor in the Machias pinochle club that was founded in the 1960s and continued play for more than 40 years. Dolores was active in supporting her sons’ education; she especially enjoyed enforcing the disciplinary measures meted out by their teachers. Dolores is survived by her sons, David, Robert (Carol) and John (Mary); her brother James Manship and wife Nancy, as well as her grandchildren Elizabeth, Heather (Roth), Emily, Adrienne (Horty) and Abigail; and great-grandchildren Connor and Eva Dodge, Parker and Grayson Roth, and Desmond and Arden Horty. In addition to her parents and husband, Dolores was predeceased by her full brothers Donald, Philip, Kenneth and James, and her adoptive brothers Earl, Jr., Joseph and Paul. Dolores’s family would like to express our appreciation to the extraordinarily compassionate staffs at the Veterans Home and Community Health and Counseling Services. In addition, we thank the amazing team at Marshall Health Care for their care of Dolores during her time there with Phil.
We invite you to a celebration of Dolores’s life at a Mass of Christian Burial at Holy Name Church in Machias on August 10, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. Friends of all faiths are invited to join our family in our farewell to Dolores. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.mcclurefamilyfuneral.com.