Dorothy Pearl Hoover Hoden
Dorothy Hoden was born on December 23, 1914, in Woodbine, Iowa, to William Franklin Hoover and Cora (Savery) Graves. She was the middle child, with brothers Carl and Oscar. Dorothy lived most of her life on a farm in Woodbine. She went to high school there and met her husband, Edward Fredrick Hoden, at a dance there.
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She died on January 26, 2014 at 99 years old while in a full care facility, where people helped her do everything, in Omaha, Nebraska near family. She leaves behind two daughters, De Anna and Carol, and a son, Ed Jr along with nine grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Dorothy’s family had a farm growing up, which was hard work, but it kept their family in a home. One of the hardships during her life was living through the Great Depression. Her father lost the farm, and the bank took it over. Luckily, they were able to make it through one of the toughest times in America.
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“A lot of people didn't have anything to eat. But, my mother said they always had food to eat. And that was because they were farmers and had the means to grow animals and vegetables,” De Anna said.
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Another disaster hit Dorothy’s family in 1952: flood of the Missouri River. Since her family home was along the river, the house flooded and the whole family had to evacuate while her father filled sandbags to stop the flood. They had to live with her brother for two weeks.
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But despite all these stressful life situations, Dorothy’s family members said she was very outgoing, sassy, wild and independent spirit. But she was also caring, hardworking, and loved God.
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“She talked about riding motorcycles with different guys, when she was young. So I feel like she was kind of a little wild,” Michelle Bottrell, one of Dorothy’s granddaughters, said. “And then I think she found God and then, you know, leveled down a little bit. But she always had this, like, little undercurrent of like a little just like little sassiness.”
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One fond memory Michelle and Linda, another granddaughter, had of Dorothy was her and her husband driving down to the tip of Texas in a camper and going square-dancing, writing them letters and bringing knick-knacks back for them.
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“[Edward and Dorothy] would always bring all sorts of interesting stuff back from Texas or Mexico,” Linda said. “They would just go across the border to Mexico and get all sorts of food treats or trinkets and whatnot and bring them back to us.”
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Along with those memories, Michelle and Linda both said that their grandma always made them feel special. Whether it was through baking, picking flowers, Linda said she was like a second mother to her and her sisters.
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“When we walked over there, we would pick what we thought were flowers out of the fields (that were probably weeds or ragweed or something terrible). And she would treat them like they were like a dozen red roses,” Michelle said. “And she would put them in a vase and put them in the window. And you know, you just felt like you had made her day.”
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Linda said she acquired a lot of skills and hobbies from her grandmother while she was at her house growing up and she enjoyed her time there.
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“She was patient with us because, you know, she would let us help in the kitchen or in the garden, or teaching us how to sew and make clothes. Or you know, just plain go and run around their house,” Linda said.
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On the day of her death, De Anna and Michelle were both there for her. Michelle said she had suffered for so long with Alzheimer’s disease, that there was this sense of relief. While Michelle was watching her grandmother, she opened the window to let fresh air in. When she turned around, Dorothy had died.
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“I want to say this is Danish or from one of the Scandinavian countries: They say that to help people die, they often open a window so their spirit or their soul can get out,” Michelle said.
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“She was in very bad shape, so it was a relief,” De Anna said. “She was very religious and knew she was going to heaven, because she was suffering here on Earth.”