Gail Dodge Marzluff

HILLSBOROUGH – Gail Dodge Marzluff passed away on May 28, 2021 in Hillsborough, N.C. at the age of 75.

Gail Charlotte Dodge was born in East Boothbay on Sept. 8, 1945. She grew up there and graduated with her class of 30 students from Boothbay Regional High School in 1963. In the summer during high school she was a mate on a deep sea fishing boat. She joined the U.S. Army nursing program from 1963-1965, and then worked as an LPN at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass.

She married William “Bill” Marzluff in 1967. Their daughter, Elaine, was born in 1967 in Cambridge, Mass., and their son, James, in 1970 in Durham, N.C. She raised her family in Tallahassee, Fla. where they lived from 1974-1991, before moving to Hillsborough, N.C. in 1991.

Gail developed an interest in genealogy (before the internet), and tracked down her family history from original sources in New England. On visits to England she visited the original (1500s) Dodge House in Southport England, and found distant cousins who she has kept up with ever since.

She never lost her love for the Maine coast; visiting with her family at least once a year, usually with a trip to Monhegan Island. She visited most of the lighthouses along the Maine Coast, and had a memorable trip to Machias Seal Island to spend a day with the puffins.

She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and served as Worthy Matron of the Tallahassee 119 Chapter. She was an avid bowler, competed in the National Bowling Tournament for more than 30 years, and in the British Open tjree times. She served on the Board of Directors for the Tallahassee Bowling Association and later for the Durham Bowling Association.

She is survived by her husband of 54 years; her daughter Elaine of Grinnell, Iowa; two sisters, Joyce Dodge Cantell of Bath and Sharon Dodge Riley of Woodbridge, Va.; and numerous nieces and nephews. Her son, James, predeceased her.

Arrangements are with Walker’s Funeral Home, 204 N. Churton St. Hillsborough, N.C. A private family gathering is planned at a later date.

Donations can be made in Gail’s memory to the COPD Foundation or the National Audobon Society Puffin Project.