Visitation: 6-8 p.m. June 2 at First Free Church, Springfield.
Service: 1 p.m. June 3 at First Free Church, Springfield, with Pastor Tom Semmelbeck officiating. A private, graveside service followed at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, Springfield.
Mrs. Dorine Dudley, 82, passed from this life May 24, 2015. She died at peace in her home after a long illness.
Dorine Helen Skogen was born prematurely on Aug. 18, 1932, in Iowa City, Iowa, to Helmer and Gloria Skogen. The daughter of Norwegian farmers, she grew up in Leland, Iowa, the oldest of six. She graduated high school from Forest City, Iowa, and attended Hamilton College in Mason City, Iowa. She married her first husband, Donovan, after college and stayed busy raising and caring for her five rambunctious children, along with being active in their schools and the Lutheran church.
In August 1977, she married Donald Dudley and they formed a lifelong partnership. Together, they were successful business partners in Oklahoma and Nixa, Missouri. They also combined their efforts to parent and grandparent nine children between them, 27 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren with two more on the way.
A strong and independent woman, Dorine approached life the only way she knew how: On time, impeccably dressed and ready to play. She was a long time Cardinals fan, wanting to know scores and stats, even in the last week of her life. She loved to play board games with family, always ready to challenge her fellow players. And, when able to play, she always made sure she made her bridge games at the Nixa Senior Center.
Dorine was an amazing and wonderful woman who always put God and her family first. The consummate matriarch, she always had an uncanny ability to know exactly what her family needed and the words they needed to hear. In a letter to her children she wrote, “Your exceptional love and loyalty to this mother has given me ongoing strength throughout my days. I love you all, equally and unconditionally, just as you are — warts, pimples, bald heads and big feet! And commend you for your choice of spouses — one of your better decisions!”
Dorine is survived by her husband Donald; sister, Marilyn Marker; brothers, Vernon and Louis Skogen; her children, Susan Evans, Donovan O’Hara, Steven O’Hara, Teresa Pool and Michael O’Hara; her step-daughters, Kimberly Cheatum, Katrina Dudley, Stephanie Biswell and Sabrina Dudley; their spouses; 27 grandchildren; and 22+ great-grandchildren.
Online condolences can be made at www.cremationsoftheozarks.com.
