Evelyn Bahn

Evelyn Estelle Dodson Bahn, 92, passed from this life Monday, May 30, 2016.

She was born Sept. 24, 1923, and had lived in Cape Girardeau for more than 60 years. She had been an active and outgoing resident of Saxony Village for the past decade. She now rests in peace with Jesus.

Faith in Jesus Christ was clearly of vital importance to her. She was a member of First Baptist Church for many years, and of First General Baptist Church more recently. She was the daughter of G.R. Dodson, a Baptist minister, and Leone Owens. She sang in the choir, taught Sunday school and served on a number of church committees and circles.

She also was active in civic and social clubs and provided a list of 17 such memberships, from teaching associations to garden club and motel associations to service organizations.

“Lynne” was a driving force in the family. She encouraged, urged, cheered-on and continually sought to see the Sands Motel and other family business endeavors succeed. She did not give up easily. After her husband, Louis William, died, she sold the Sands Motel, which they had started in 1953, seeing it grow through the years from the ground up.

She also was a teacher, having been thrust into even administrative responsibilities in Lutesville, Missouri, when during World War II, she served as a principal. She actually signed the high-school diploma for one of her younger brothers. She taught in Illinois and Southeast Missouri for a number of years, and regularly would have former students express their love and appreciation to her in the later years of her life.

She is survived by a son, David Bahn, and his wife, Diane, in Cypress, Texas; a daughter, Carolyn Suzanne Bahn Hancock, and her husband, Stanley, in Sheridan, Arkansas; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. One of nine children, she also is survived by three brothers, George Dodson, Schuyler Dodson and Maures Dodson; and a sister, Joyce Ann Trower.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Louis William Bahn; and two daughters, Kathryn Bahn and Barbara Lorhmann.

A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Ford and Sons Mount Auburn Funeral Home, with the Rev. Sam Ramdial officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Burial will be at Fairmount Cemetery.

Memorials may be given to the Lutheran Home Hospice or the American Cancer Society.

Online condolences may be shared at www.fordandsonsfuneralhome.com.