Harriette Benton Dodd
Harriette Benton Dodd, daughter of Harry and Essie Benton, was born in 1933 in Georgia but lived most of her childhood in Ravenel, SC.
She graduated from St. Pauls High School, received a degree in music from Winthrop College, and a master’s degree in education from the College of Charleston. She also did further study at the University of South Carolina.
A retired teacher, she taught music in the St. George, Harleyville-Ridgeville, and Walterboro schools. She later taught fourth grade in Walterboro for 25 years. In 1979 she was Teacher of the Year for the Colleton County School District.
She had served as pianist and choir director at Sauldam Baptist Church in Ravenel and Bethlehem Baptist Church in Round O, choir director at Memorial Baptist Church in St. George, and organist and choir director at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Walterboro. At Winthrop she sang in the college choir and accompanied several vocal students and the Winthrop Training School chorus at the piano.
She was a former award-winning member of the Mayfield Garden Club and was a member and past president of the Tea and Topics Literary Club. She had served as a Brownie Troop Leader for the Girl Scouts, and was a member of the Colleton County Historical Society, the Colleton County Arts Council, Friends of the Library, and The Colleton Museum. She had served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Colleton County Arts Council, the Walterboro Swimming Pool, and the Cottageville School Bus Corporation. When on the Arts Council Board she was instrumental in securing a grand piano for the Hampton Street Auditorium in honor of Dorothy Mae Buckner and designed the bronze donor plaque for the piano which hangs in the auditorium.
She is survived by her husband of 62 years Boyd Dodd, her daughter Emily Bridges, MD (Charles), her son David Dodd (Susan); 3 granddaughters Leland Bridges, Harriette Davis (Seth), and Martha Dodd; one great grandson Henry Davis, and two nieces Diane Wright and Teresa Price. She was predeceased by a daughter, Ellen Elizabeth Dodd and her sister, Addie Virginia (Sammie) Benton Williams.
Harriette’s memorial will be at St. Jude’s Church, 907 Wichman St, Walterboro, SC, on Friday November 6th, 2020. Visitation will begin in Skardon Hall at 3:00 PM. The memorial service will begin at 4:00 pm and Internment at Fox Cemetery, Round O will immediately follow the church service.
Donations in her honor may be made to St. Judes Church, Walterboro SC, the Colleton County Memorial Library, or St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
