Emogene Elizabeth Dodsworth
1936 - 2025

Emogene was born on November 2, 1936, in Marxville, WI, the daughter of Melvin and Mercedes Daental. She had an older brother, Donovan. The family moved to rural Dane County, and Emogene became active in 4H, receiving five achievement awards. She attended Lodi High School where she participated in band, forensics, FHA, Badger Girls State, took two years of French and graduated as Class President and Valedictorian in 1954.

She continued her education at UW-Madison studying English; then spent a year studying French at the Sorbonne University in Paris. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UW-Madison in 1959 and subsequently obtained a master's degree in French.

While working part time at the UW Primate Facilities, she met and married Robert Dodsworth in September 1959. She and Bob raised a family of four children, Ann (1960), Sara (1962), Aaron (1965), and Jeremy (1976). The family moved from Madison to Mazomanie in August 1961, where Emogene lived for the rest of her life.

In Mazomanie, Emogene taught French in the River Valley school system, reported for the News Sickle Arrow newspaper and the Wisconsin State Journal, was elected to the Wisconsin Heights School Board, was President of the Friends of the Library, played the clarinet in the Iron Horse Coronet Band for 20 years, and served on the governing board of the United Church of Christ. She also worked for H & R Block, was a supervisor in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Statistical Reporting Service and worked for the UW Women's Health Study. She was interested in quilting and travel, and from 1968 to 2018, kept an account of each trip taken.

Emogene died on November 24, 2025, at The Meadows, Spring Green, Wisconsin. She is survived by her husband of 66 years, Bob, her four children: Ann m. Blair Anderson, Eau Claire; Sara m. Todd Aeschlimann, Black Earth; Aaron m. Beth Weber, Cross Plains; and Jeremy, San Bernardino. and his friend, Lizett Gonzalez, Santa Cruz, CA; eight grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11am on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at Mazomanie United Church of Christ, 109 West Hudson Street, Mazomanie, WI 53560. A visitation will be from 10am until the time of the service at the church. A luncheon will follow at Basecamp, Mazomanie.

The family wishes to thank the staff of The Meadows Assisted Living and Memory Care facility in Spring Green and the support of Agrace Hospice Care.

Memorials may be made to the Mazomanie United Church of Christ, and Agrace Hospice Care.