Bernice Mildred Dodge

February 26, 1913-February 26, 2013 Bernice Mildred Dodge passed away Tuesday, February 26th on her 100th birthday. Born in Liberty, Mo., to Jessie and Frank Harris, she had two sisters, Elva and Vivian, and two brothers, Jack and Edgar (who went on to claim fame as the man who built ever bar in Western films made by Monogram Pictures in Hollywood).She married George Wallace Dodge in Hollywood, California, in 1931. Their son, Bill Wallace Dodge, was born in 1934, when Bernice went to pick up her husband at the Charlie Chaplin Motion Picture Studio, where he worked on the lighting staff. As Dodge told friends later on, “mom went to the studio to pick up dad at work – he was late and I was early.” Bernice became a model, wrote songs and appeared on radio and TV on “The $64 Question” with Jack Parr, and as a contestant on the TV series, “Queen for a Day.” A daughter, Patricia, was born six years later. Bernice tells friends that her daughter’s claim to fame was winning a multi-million dollar lottery, along with a dozen other employees at WalMart who pooled their winnings each week to purchase a lottery ticket. She retired immediately after winning. Bernice came to Astoria in 1990 with her son, artist Bill W. Dodge, and lived in retirement at Clatsop Care Center for the past four years. A granddaughter, Pamela Dunham, works at Columbia Memorial Hospital. Caldwell’s Luce-Layton Mortuary is in charge of the arrangements. At Mrs. Dodge’s request, there will be no service.