Betty Dodson

Betty Bond Bauer Dodson, 93, passed peacefully on June 16, 2026, at Tribute at Melford, Bowie, MD. Born December 11, 1932, to Clarence Turner Bond and Audrey Aileen Wallich Bond in Baltimore, MD. She grew up on Old Gunpowder Road in Beltsville, MD near Route 198, where she attended a one-room schoolhouse with her older brother and sister. Betty lived most of her life in Maryland; since 1969 in Bowie, MD. Betty was a 1950 graduate of Greenbelt High School. She met her first husband, Frank Joseph Bauer after high school and they were married April 10, 1954. They had been married 34 years when he passed in March 1988. Betty and her second husband, Richard Dodson, met in 1990, and were married July 25, 1992.

Betty loved gardening and belonged to the Bowie/Crofton Garden Club. She served as President of the Widowed Person’s Service. Betty was a long-term member of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). She was a member and active participant of St. Matthews United Methodist Church as well as a member of the AGAPE circle. She is survived by her second husband, MAJ Richard Dodson (USArmy Ret.) of Bowie, MD, Sisters Esther B. Stedman and Vera Houle of CA; her children Son Frank K. (Lee Ann) Bauer of Livingston, TX, Daughter Cheryl A. (Ken Chez) Bauer of Boulder, CO, and Richard’s children Linda (Heath Wilson) Kelican of Longmont, CO, Drake (Pam) Dodson of Mount Pleasant, SC, Matthew Dodson of St. Augustine, FL, 10 Step-Grandchildren and one Step-Great-Granddaughter.

She will be laid to rest in the Columbarium at St. Matthews.