DOLORES NANCY DAYTON
12/23/1931 – 3/18/2017
Dolores (Dodie) Dayton passed peacefully on March 18th, 2017 after a lengthy illness. She was born and raised in Winchendon, MA to Eva and Arthur Seymour. Upon graduation from high school she attended nursing school and began her career as a registered nurse. In 1952 she joined the United States Air Force as a first lieutenant flight nurse and proudly served during the Korean Conflict. Swept away by flight navigator Gerald K. (Jerry) Dayton, they married in Fort Worth, Texas on August 20th, 1955. In 1967, they settled in Lodi after many years in Los Angeles where she worked as an RN at UCLA to put him through medical school.
Dodie was an avid gardener and an accomplished home chef. She grew spectacular orchids and showed her bonsais at the annual Obon Festival. Dodie always had a great recipe to share and even produced a family cookbook. She will forever be remembered in the kitchen with the stereo on, and a glass of wine in her hand showing off the latest Jazzercise moves, while cooking up a feast.
Active in the local community, Dodie proudly volunteered for many years at Lodi Memorial Hospital as a patient advocate. She held office in the local Republican Women’s group and she loved Jazzercise, clocking many years with the local group. She never lost contact with her old friends with the Society of Air Force Nurses and was a member of the San Joaquin Medical Wives Society.
Dodie and Jerry loved to travel. They visited all 50 states, including Alaska, in their RV. They belonged to the Vagabundos Del Mar RV travel club and rarely missed the annual crab feed held at Tower Park Marina. They made wonderful memories in Cabo San Lucas, b.c.s, making the trip in their RV many times, meeting up with their daughters and making lifelong friends along the way.
Dodie was a generous donor to many nonprofit organizations including the Humane Society, the Lodi Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Disabled Veterans Fund. Always most important to Dodie, after Jerry, were their 3 girls. She was a wonderful, kind, and supportive presence in each of their lives. She spent countless hours poolside with the Lodi City Swim Club, cheering the girls on, and she never missed a chance to brag about them.
Dodie was the glue that held the family together always in touch with her sister in Florida, and her nephew and nieces back east. She is preceded in death by Jerry and sister Iris Warren. She is survived by her daughters, Annie Dayton, Elizabeth Dayton and Joan Utley, her beloved sons-in law Jeff Utley and Justin Larsen and her grandchildren Noah Peake, Sydney, Riley and Tucker Utley.
We wish to acknowledge and thank the staff at Brookdale for their loving care and support during this difficult time. Per Dodie’s wishes, there will be no formal memorial service. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in her name to the Humane Society of the United States, or to Lodi Memorial Hospital Foundation.
Please sign the guest book at www.lodinews.com/ guestbook.