Ann (Thornberry) Dodderidge, 87, died peacefully on Saturday, May 12 at Sunrise Senior Living in Lenexa, Kansas. Ann was born on September 30, 1930 in Joplin, Missouri to John and Gretchen Thornberry. Her father was the director of the Boys Club of Kansas City, Missouri from 1935-67.
Ann’s family moved to Kansas City in 1935 and she attended Westport High School. She graduated from the University of Iowa in 1951 with a degree in speech, and was a member of the Chi Omega sorority. After college, she was a music librarian at WHB Radio in Kansas City.
She married Richard Dodderidge on October 25, 1952 at her home in Janssen Place in Kansas City, Missouri. The two met on a blind date at a Kansas City Blues baseball game in 1951. After moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota for two years, they relocated to Kansas City in 1954.
The couple lived in Mission Woods, Kansas for more than 30 years and spent the next 22 years in Venice, Florida before moving back to the Kansas City area in 2015. Ann was an accomplished real estate agent, computer teacher, and community theater actor. Her hobbies were traveling all over the world, tennis, photography, arts and crafts, and entertaining.
Her children remember her as a kind mother who encouraged them to pursue their dreams. She was a generous individual who loved being involved in numerous groups, including Chi Omega in Kansas City and Sarasota, Florida; the Junior League of Kansas City; the Wives of Rotarians; the Midnighter’s Dance Club in Kansas City; the Daughters of the American Revolution; the Colonial Dames; the Belles of the American Royal; the St. Luke’s Hospital Auxiliary; the Venice Area Computer Group; and the Venice Theater. She was an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri, and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Venice, Florida.
Ann is survived by her husband, Richard William Dodderidge of Lenexa; three sons, Richard William II (Vicki) of Kansas City, Missouri; John Russell (Tammy) of Lenexa; and Daniel James (Nancy) of Chappaqua, New York; four grandchildren, Timothy and Andrew of Lenexa, and Bradley and Brooke of Chappaqua; and two nieces and one nephew. She is preceded in death by her parents, and sister, Johne (Thornberry) McTavish of Charleston, South Carolina, who died on March 12, 2018. A visitation is scheduled for Friday, May 18, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Johnson County Funeral Chapel at 11200 Metcalf Ave.
in Overland Park, Kansas. The funeral will be held on Saturday, May 19 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church at 12251 Antioch Rd. in Overland Park, with a reception to follow at St. Thomas.
All are welcome to attend and celebrate Ann’s life. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the John Thornberry Unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. The family would like to thank the staff at Sunrise Senior Living of Lenexa and the Ascend Hospice staff for their care over the past three years.
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