Born at home in Grandview, WA, August 16, 1938, to Cordelia Marie (Reinhardt) and Herbert “Whitey” Nelson Conner, Dodie was sung home to Jesus by her granddaughter, Vanessa Johnson, November 5, 2015.
Musically inclined, Dodie began piano lessons at age 7. At Kings Garden High School, a private Christian school, she played piano and guitar in an all girl band. Dodie graduated from Grandview High School in 1956.

She met Lawrence “Larry” Frank Leach in high school. They married in Grandview, Wash., then moved to Seattle, Wash., where Dodie made her home in Ballard for the rest of her life.

A job Dodie really enjoyed was feeding the tired night-shift newspaper route drivers at the Seattle P-I. With her great sense of humor, she always brightened their mornings.

She joined a community cooking class, as she loved the concept of people bringing something from home, cooking and then eating together. Dodie enjoyed her quilting club, gardening, making and sharing jam, classic movies, anything from Larsen Brothers Danish Bakery, and her beloved Mariners!
Dodie attended Bethany Community Church for 51 years and she loved her church family!

Predeceased by her older sister, Nancy Kay Brock, and her parents, Whitey and Marie Conner, Dodie leaves 3 children, Michael Leach, Cassandra Leach Robertson and Matthew O'Conner; several grandchildren and great grandchildren; sister, Debra Lynn Conner; many nieces, nephews and cousins. Dodie “adopted" two families: the James Loaris and Pamela Belyea families.

Dodie’s memorial service/final party was held at Bethany Community Church November 21, 2015. Dodie’s life was remembered with pictures and stories and closed with her granddaughter singing the song she was singing to Dodie when she went to be with Jesus, "Temporary Home."

Remembrances may be made in Dodie’s name to Ballard Food Bank or Seattle Public Library Foundation, Mobile Library Service for Residents with a Disability.

Published in The Ballard News Tribune Section of The Westside Weekly November 27, 2015.