Katherine Janet Dodge Moncrief August 18, 1933 - May 23, 2020

August 18, 1933 – May 23, 2020

A life well lived. A woman well loved.

Katherine Janet Dodge Moncrief was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1933. On May 23, 2020, Katherine passed peacefully on hospice care in her residence at Stacie’s Chalet in Modesto, California with her daughter Janet at the bedside. Katherine was 86 years old.

Katherine was born the oldest of three daughters to Richard Mason Dodge and his wife Katherine Joy Hoch Dodge. As a child, Katherine lived in Chicago, Texas and Southern California. She attended Whittier College obtaining a Bachelors degree in 1955. Katherine married Lawrence Herbert Moncrief in 1956. She received her master degree in Family Economics in 1962 at Long Beach State. In 1962, the young couple, along with their newly adopted baby Richard moved to Chico, California, where Lawrence began working as a Chico police officer and Katherine began teaching home economics at Chico State College. In 1964, Katherine and Lawrence adopted their second child, Janet. In 1970, the family moved to Modesto where Lawrence began working for Stanislaus County as a probation officer, and later taught in the police academy at Modesto Junior College. Katherine taught for a couple of years at Hilmar High School. She taught for many years at Beyer and Downey High Schools in Modesto. Katherine and Lawrence were fortunate to retire in their late 50’s and enjoyed traveling together especially their four trips to Scotland. Katherine and Lawrence are founding members of the Clan Moncrieffe Society. The couple have been members of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County for 50 years; A Memorial Service with stories honoring Katherine will be scheduled at a later date.

Katherine is survived by her husband Lawrence, two sisters; Barbara Bruns of Eugene Oregon and Lois Dodge Gott of Coronado, California, her two children; Richard Lawrence Moncrief of Modesto and Janet Elizabeth Moncrief of Santa Cruz, five grandsons; Richard S. Moncrief, Harlan Absher, Kevin Bradley, Aaron Moncrief and Kevin Moncrief, three great-grand children; Bella, Nolan and Emma, many loving nieces, nephews, extended family members and friends. Katherine was well loved and appreciated for her kind heart and generous spirit. Katherine’s interests in her life included a thirst for knowledge, nurturing loving relationships, traveling, genealogy, technology, politics, reading and cooking.

One of Katherine favorite quotes is from Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests those who wish to make a contribution in Katherine’s honor to Community Hospice of Modesto, give.hospiceheart.org 4368 Spyres Way, Modesto, CA 95356 or Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County , P.O. Box 1000, Salida, CA 95368.