A sixth generation Texan, Dolores Louise Hunnicutt Delaney was born on Sunday August 20, 1939 to Mamie Ruth Gressett and John Harv Hunnicutt in Ballinger, Texas at home. As was the custom at the time, the mother and children went back to the mother's home to give birth. Dodie's sister was sent to church during the birth. They then stayed in Ballinger for about a month until it was safe to travel back to the ranch with Dodie.

Known as Dodie for most of her life after her grandmother, she was true grit personified and an old school, gracious, no nonsense Texas woman. She never met a challenge she did not like and fought until the end.

In the first years of her life her family did not have electricity but instead used lamps and a wood burning stove to light the house at night. Her surviving sister Joann has memories of Dodie dancing by lamp light to the sound of the violin her father John played. A sketch was done of this by a family friend and you will see a copy on the program.

The family lived on 3200 acres on Hamilton Pool Road in Travis, Texas according to the 1940 census. Her father was a rancher whose brand was JHH. He was known as a horse whisperer for his ability to break horses and he worked for the Mc Elroy's and LBJ. Her mother was a writer who wrote articles for the Cattleman Magazine in the 1930's and 1940's.

Dodie's was young when her father passed away and her mother moved the family to Austin, eventually remarried and worked at the Radio House at The University of Texas to help support the family. During this time Dodie attended public school in Austin and high school at St. Mary's Academy in Austin. She played basketball and other sports during high school. She went on to San Angelo College where her basketball team won State. During her time at college, Dodie also won State in Fencing. Her achievements were not just in sports, however. She was voted Queen or Miss San Angelo College. She also participated in the drama department, acted in plays and was a cheerleader.

She then attended The University of Texas Dental School to train to be a dental hygienist. She met her husband and the father of her children, Albert Delaney, while in dental school. They moved to Liberty Texas where she raised her family. Dodie was an active member of the DAR and held State Offices in the Organization.

She cooked for family and friends and loved to entertain. She took sewing lessons and entered every Pillsbury cooking contest that was offered and spent a year trying to perfect a Pineapple recipe for a Dole contest. She was active in the community and supported the events her children were involved in. She supported her husband and family and would do anything to help all who called her a friend.

Dodie was a master at genealogy and tracking ancestors. This was apparent to all who knew her while she was in the DAR. This would also serve her well later in life.

The day before she died, she was recounting her life to the day nurse. She talked about the time Amy came home from school and told Dodie that her speech team had been invited to compete at Harvard and the teacher, Jeanne Dubose, said they could not afford to go. Dodie called the teacher and said yes you can. In typical Dodie mode, she organized bake sales and raffles, and secured private donations to raise the money needed for the team to attend the competition at Harvard. Of course, Dodie was a chaperone for the trip which happened to be the coldest week in over 35 years for the area.

Dodie also said that same day that she has to stay on her toes with Lindsay at all times. He was the apple of her eye but he was a lot like her so she knew what he was capable of.

Dodie told the day nurse that she was very proud of both of her children and grateful for the time she had with them. She loved her older sister and enjoyed their daily conversations.

As her children grew older and closer to leaving home, Dodie remade herself as a jeweler and bead maker. She also became interested in and began selling antiques. She took courses and also read everything she could get her hands on. She became an expert of sorts in the antique world. This was her career for many years and she made many lifelong friends during this time.

For a few years she also worked for Ben Bridge Jewelers at Memorial City Mall until smash and grab became a thing. It was no longer safe to be in that industry. So, she made a change.

In the early 2000's her son Lindsay and her sister Joann thought it would be a great idea for Dodie to become a Landman. Joann taught her Excel and Lindsay taught her the landman industry. This was her career until late 2020 when her cancer made it difficult to continue. She made many friends in this industry and reacquainted herself with people who had been part of her life earlier. She also got to spend time with Lindsay and Joann on the road.

Dodie was a devout Christian who read her bible every morning. She prayed for all her friends and those she just met. She attended church when she was able. She told Glenda during their last visit a few days before her death, that she was really a Baptist.

She was an animal lover from childhood. As a child she was always rescuing animals and this continued all through her life. At one point in 2021, her son-in-law Dan, told her not to bring any more dogs to his house. This was after she had already brought 4 dogs to their house.

In February of 2021, she moved to Amy and Dan's. She passed away peacefully there on October 5, 2022.

Dodie spent 6 years battling Metastatic Breast Cancer. Initially she was given three weeks to live. She decided to fight and that she did. She was lucky to respond to the initial treatment that worked for almost two years. Then it was on to the next treatment that worked about a year. And so on. Many treatments were tried and some experimental, but she was always up for the next treatment no matter how hard they were on her. In February of 2022 it became apparent that the bone cancer was going to win. Dodie did not want to hear it and she continued to fight.

Even though she continued to fight and was not in good shape, she continued to support her family. In August when her daughter-in-law Jerre, lost her mother, Dodie made a heroic effort to attend the funeral. It took Morphine and every other pain medicine she had to make the trip but she loved Jerre like her daughter and wanted to support her.

On September 19th while trying to pull herself up at MD Anderson in the Woodlands her forearm snapped. Luckily, she was at her oncologist appointment and was admitted to MD Anderson downtown where they glued the bone together during a surgical procedure on the 27th of September. That Wednesday she agreed to Hospice care and she was transferred back to Amy's house for hospice care.

Dodie fought the pain medicine but eventually saw it did help. Her lifelong friends Joe and Glenda Callaway came to visit on that Sunday. Sometime after they left, her left shoulder snapped and the pain became unbearable. On Monday she began to recount her life to the day nurse and at one point asked how long did she have. The nurse responded with not long. At that point Dodie appeared to reconcile herself to this fact.

On Tuesday morning she had let go. He older sister Joann and Amy's best friend Lauren who was a daughter in Dodie's eyes, came to visit Dodie. She conversed with both. After they left, she became unresponsive. Shortly after midnight she passed away peacefully with her family at her side.

Dodie was someone who reinvented herself many times and became somewhat of an expert in each new field or endeavor she decided to undertake.

She was always optimistic and ready for the next adventure.

She tired her hardest to be the best at everything she did. Her competitive nature was evident until the very end.

At the time of her death, the world lost a woman who was one of the last of a dying breed of Texans.

Someone who remembered those who had gone before her and respected the battles they endured. Someone who understood the impact her actions and footsteps, and how it would reflect on generations to come.

Dodie is survived by her sister Jeanne Joann Taylor, daughter Amy and husband Dan, son Lindsay and wife Jerre, 2 grandchildren Kaci Rhine (Kris) and Kara Spear (Alan), 4 great grandchildren (Ellie, Eli, Remi, Thomas), one niece and 4 nephews. She is preceded in death by her father John Hunnicutt, mother Ruth Goddard, sister Carolyn Scarborough and two nieces Louise Scarborough and Graham Davidson.

A memorial service will be held on October 16, 2022 at Gianna Italian Kitchen starting at 12:30.

Family Burial will be in Ballinger, Texas at a later date.

In lieu of flowers the family is asking that donations be made to Devotion Hospice in Conroe, Texas or the charity of your choice.