Robert T. Dodder

Robert T. Dodder, age 84, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, died on August 10, 2013, at Hospice With Heart in Glenwood, Iowa, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born on March 24, 1929, at Washington, Iowa. He was a United Methodist minister in Iowa since beginning as a student pastor in 1950. He preached more than 2,500 sermons, presided over more than 585 marriages, performed more than 925 baptisms, welcomed more than 1,800 new members into the church and conducted more than 1,000 funerals.

He served at Iowa churches in Morning Sun, Wilton-Moscow, Guthrie Center-Bowman Chapel, Wapello, Creston, Ankeny, Burlington 1st Methodist and Hazel Dell. He was superintendent of the Council Bluffs District from 1970 to 1976, and served as dean of the Cabinet of the Iowa Annual Conference under Bishop James S. Thomas.

He graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in 1951, then earned a Master of Divinity from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1955. He also received an honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree from IWC in 1972.

He served in many positions in the United Methodist Church beyond the local ministry including chair of the Conference Finance and Administration, chair of the North Central Conference Finance and Administration, member of the General Board of Publications, member of the Investment and Finance subcommittees, member of the Conference Board of Pensions, member of the World Methodist Council, member and secretary of the IWC Board of Trustees, and member of the Board of Higher Education. He also was a delegate to the General Conference of 1968, North Central Jurisdictional Conference, and World Methodist Conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

He volunteered hundreds of hours at Jennie Edmundson and Mercy hospitals in Council Bluffs, as well as the Iowa Democratic Party. He enjoyed hiking, traveling, reading, and gooseberry pies. Spending time with his family was the joy of his retirement years. He amassed a collection of more than 500 turtles that represented his motto ""to get ahead you have to stick your neck out"".

He was preceded in death by his parents, Harrison and Leora (Taylor) Dodder; his first wife, Patricia (Hamlin) Dodder; his two daughters, Rebecca (Dodder) Hartman and Debra Dodder; and all three of his brothers, Daryl, Paul, and his twin, Richard Dodder.

He is survived by his wife, Irene Brucker Dodder, whom he married in 1998; his daughters, Sara Dodder Furr (KC), of Lincoln, Neb., and Joanna Dodder Nellans (Bruce), of Prescott, Ariz.; and his grandchildren, Robert Alcorta, Johnathan and Jaakobah Hartman, Elizabeth Larson (Scott), Michaela Ginn, Lindsay Fulkerson, and Nathaniel, Abigail and Eleanor Furr. He also had seven great grandchildren.

Visitation with the family is 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, August 12, at the funeral home, and the funeral services take place at 2 p.m. Tuesday, August 13, at Broadway United Methodist Church in Council Bluffs. Internment is at Ridgewood Cemetery in Council Bluffs, followed by a luncheon back at church. Memorials are suggested to Iowa Wesleyan College in care of Robert T. Dodder Scholarship Fund, and Broadway United Methodist Church.

This obituary was originally published in The Daily Nonpareil.