Shannon Dodson Was Loving Mother, Committed to Community

Jason Dodson remembers his wife Shannon coordinating a family trip to Vermont last summer, when they and their three children went camping with the families of Jason’s brother and sister. Shannon brought every gadget she could think of because it was an entirely new experience for her.

“It was a blast,” Jason said. “And we didn’t even get eaten by any bears.”

It was a trip they had wanted to take for a while, but they hadn’t been able to logistically put everything together. It was important that Jason see his family, and Shannon recognized that.

“She made it happen somehow,” he said. “It really turned into a trip of a lifetime.”

Shannon Dodson will be remembered as a woman who was deeply devoted to her family and extremely active in the community.

Shannon Dodson died unexpectedly on Feb. 10 during a medical procedure. She was 34.

Shannon was involved in multiple organizations in the area. She taught children’s liturgy at Saint Luke the Evangelist Church in Richmond Heights and volunteered as the at . She also worked as an office manager in medical buildings for McShane Medical Properties.

“But mostly she was a mom,” Jason said. “She just adored her kids. Every single day, she just loved them.”

Shannon is survived by three children. Jason Jr., 8, is a third-grader at and Eva, 6, is a first-grader at the MRH Early Childhood Center. Gus is 3 years old.

Shannon and Jason met at a St. Louis Cardinals game in 2000. They attended the game with different groups of friends, but they met each other and started talking. They soon fell in love and later started a family.

Shannon grew up in South County but the family moved to Maplewood in 2006. Jason said they loved the community and schools.

“It was a great environment for us and our kids,” he said.

Jason works as a managing attorney for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, a nonprofit legal service that helps low-income people. Shannon volunteered to help the nonprofit by co-chairing the Justice For All Ball Auction, a major fundraiser for the organization.

“She supported me with all of her heart and all of her soul. She always wanted to help,” he said.

Since Shannon’s unexpected death, Jason said friends and family have helped the family with food, laundry and in other ways.

Kristin Tanner, a family friend and neighbor, organized a CareCalendar for the Dodson family. The calendar allows friends and family to sign up on a specific day to bring in food for the family. It was an easy way to unify people from the different communities Shannon was involved with: her church, workplace and children’s school.

Tanner has known the Dodsons for four years. Jason coached her son’s baseball team and Shannon and Tanner both belonged to an MRH moms fellowship group.

“It’s a privilege to serve them,” Tanner said. “They’ve always served us in the past.”

She said the calendar has already been filled through the middle of April.

“It’s a really caring community and it really shows in times like these,” Tanner said.

“This community has just wrapped its arms around us. That’s just a testament to Shannon,” he said. “She was just an amazing gift.”

Three days before Shannon’s death, she wrote a note in a journal that she often shared with her family. Jason said her own words capture her essence the best:
I love my family.
I love my children.
I love my friends.
I love the kindness of others.
I love being alive and trying to find a way to make it work.
I love life.
I love life.
I love life.
I love life.
I love life.

If you’d like to sign up for the CareCalendar, please e-mail Kristin Tanner at krisbren@sbcglobal.net.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested memorial contributions be made to:
Children of Shannon Dodson, Attention John Mussmann
7435 Watson Rd, #122 Kenrick Plaza
St. Louis, MO 63119