My Grand Aunt Mary 'Stella' Dodd was the 9th of 12 children born to my great grandparents, John Henry Dodd and Mary Caroline Bragg, on Tuesday, 22 Jul 1902, in Jumping Branch, Summers County, WV.

Grand Aunt Stella was 7 years old when she lost her mother 1 month and 6 days after she gave birth to her baby brother, John Henry Dodd, Jr. John Henry, Jr was taken in by a local doctor's family to raise at the time.

When Grand Aunt Stella was about 8 years old, Great Grandpa John Henry, then remarried to Florence E Bowden, moved the family - with the exception of the older boys and little John Henry, Jr - to the Winter Park, FL area where her father and older siblings helped start the First Baptist Church of Winter Park.

According to the 8 Apr 1930 federal census, Grand Aunt Stella was the head of the house with boarders living in and she was working as a Registered Nurse. She was 27 years old at the time.

On Monday, 12 Jun 1933, at the age of 30, Grand Aunt Stella married Polk Decator Slayton - Grand Uncle Polk - in Winter Park, FL. They would have three children: Harvey Joe (born Friday, 7 Feb 1936); Mary Ann (born Tuesday, 15 Apr 1941 - Mary Ann lived long enough to marry in Apr 1961 but passed away on Sunday, 26 Nov of that same year); and Susan Jeanette Slayton (born sometime after the 1945 FL State Census - her existence is known because she is mentioned as one of her mother's survivors in her mother's obituary).

Grand Aunt Stella passed away after a long illness at her home in Goldenrod, Seminole County, FL on Wednesday, 7 May 1958. Despite what her obituary claimed, she was 55 years old - 2 months and 15 days shy of her 56th birthday (her obituary claimed that she was 56 when she died in error). I was only 4 years old at the time so I never knew her, for obvious reasons. I do know that she was well revered and loved among all of her family members - to the point that her second to the youngest brother gave his youngest daughter the first name of Stella. Grand Aunt Stella never liked the name Mary, though it was indeed her first name. She often switched places between her middle name and her first name - such as on her marriage license and certificate when she married Grand Uncle Polk.

May she be indeed resting in peace and enjoying the company of all her siblings and parents in God's loving care in heaven.