Lila Jeanine (White) Dobson, 66, of Blytheville, Ark., passed away Friday afternoon at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Memphis after a long illness. A service of remembrance is set for noon Tuesday at First United Methodist Church, 701 West Main in Blytheville, where she was a member. Visitation with the family is planned for 11 a.m. at the church.
Born February 20, 1943 in Shreveport, La., to Marvin R. and Daisy Loretta (Killinger) White, she was a graduate of Guy’s Beauty College and had just begun her career in cosmetology when she met a young airman, Joe Vernon Dobson, who was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, La. After a six-month courtship, they were married September 24, 1965 in Shreveport and enjoyed a lifetime of love that was only briefly interrupted by his death in March of 2008.
After having two children of her own, Dobson became an educator and advocate for children in her community. In 1977 she became concerned the lack of air conditioning in Bossier Parish schools was making it difficult for children to concentrate and learn in the hot, humid Louisiana weather. After being told by school officials that voters would not raise taxes on such a luxury as air conditioning, she organized local parents and gathered petition signatures to place the measure on the ballot. Voters approved the issue and schools in the parish soon conducted class under more hospitable conditions.
Dobson served for a number of years as the director of Christian education at the First Presbyterian Church of Bossier City, where she was also a longtime member of the choir. During her tenure there, she was instrumental in the design and development of a curriculum for preschool children which utilized a unique concept aimed at drawing all children in class directly into the learning experience in a way in which each child felt they were receiving the teacher’s full attention. To achieve this goal, she designed a custom-made learning station to facilitate the hands-on experience scaled to be comfortable for the pre-school student.
As well as educating the children of her community, Dobson also took great pride in supporting her own children’s extra-curricular activities. An active member of the Parent Teacher Associations at their schools, her frequent volunteering earned her the title of “the Cupcake Lady” for the homemade treats she would bring to class on any occasion she could. She was finally recognized for her service during the 1988-89 school year, when she was elected president of the Band Boosters association at Airline High School in Bossier City.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and one granddaughter, Lila Celeste Dobson. She is survived by one daughter, Jennifer Jeanine Woods and her husband, Ron, of Blytheville; one son, Joe Vernon Dobson, Jr., and his wife, Cynthia Renfro, of DeFuniak Springs, Fla.; two granddaughters, Veronica Jeanine Woods and Chloe Simone Dobson; one grandson, Alexander Christian Dobson; two brothers, Marvin Ray White and Richard Allen White; three sisters, Barbara Ann Steinfeld, Margaret Loretta Newman and Celia Diane Hassell; and a great number of nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly.
Before her death, Dobson elected to be a donor for the Genesis Legacy program at the Medical Education & Research Institute – a medical teaching and training facility in Memphis that provides educational and research opportunities for physicians from around the world. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in her name to the Genesis Legacy Program at 1-877-288-GIVE, the American Diabetes Association, or any charity that benefits the true passion of her life – the care and education of children in need.
