Caroline Virginia Dodge (Sis), 95, of Benton was welcomed home by our Lord on Nov. 8, 2017. Caroline was born 2/28/22 to Claude Terry and Eda Gschwend in Pocahontas, AR. Caroline lost her first husband, Melvin Hilburn, in WWII in April, 1945. She was married to Adrain Dodge (A.O.), a WWII vet, on his birthday on 3/3/1946. The Dodges and Terrys were both large farm families living in Halliday (outside Paragould), AR.
They moved to Benton in 1952 with their only child, Randy, so A.O. could work at ALCOA. He worked there 27 years before retiring. They lived on Hazel Street for 60+ years. Caroline's two sisters also lived on Hazel Street, Billie Bowden (Ather) and Agnes Pierceall (Shorty), as well as A.O.'s sister Jeanette McDonald (Bud). Lots of family & cousins grew up together on Hazel Street. Randy attended all his school years in Benton through high school (1965) before graduating from University of Arkansas Fayetteville. Caroline's mom passed away when she was 15, so she had to come home on the farm and be mother for her 3 older brothers, and 3 younger sisters. Her education ended at 6th grade, so she was determined to get Randy thru college. She started working at Curtis Mathis TV in Benton on the circuit board assembly line, and later at Fan-Tron in Little Rock to help with college expenses. Randy also worked summers at ALCOA thru college.
Caroline loved to cook and bake and get together with family & friends. There were many weekend and holiday parties, catfish fries, and highly competitive Pitch card games between family & friends over the years. Caroline and Randy were members of Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Benton. Caroline was also a faithful member of VFW Auxiliary.
Caroline spent the last several years in Southridge Village Assisted Living in Conway. She was preceded in death by her husband A.O. Dodge, her parents, and eight siblings. Survivors include son Randy Dodge (Wendy) of Fayetteville, grandchildren Jennifer Heiby (Chris) of Louisville, KY, David Dodge (Susan) of College Station, TX, Anna Beaulieu (Jeff) and Donna Dodge-Sharp (Scott) of Fayetteville, sister Agnes Pierceall of Jonesboro, and sister-in-law Ida Terry of Phoenix, AZ, and many Nieces & Nephews.
Funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, November 10, 2017 in the chapel of Roller-Ballard Funeral Home (315-4047) with Father Paul Worm officiating. A private committal service will be held later at Forest Hills Memorial Park in Alexander, AR.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to the funeral service at 12:00 p.m. in the chapel of the funeral home.