Gale Green Dollinger, 72, of Beaumont, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Monday, June 27, 2016. Gale was born in Vidor, Texas on February 6, 1944. She graduated from Vidor High School, attended Lamar Institute of Technology, and worked at Beaumont Saving and Loans for several years.
In 1966 Gale married John E. ‘Jed’ Dollinger and began to learn about living life as an Aggie wife. Jed and Gale met in February and married in early September – before Gale had experienced a fall football season with Jed! For a few years she travelled to College Station with Jed for Aggie football games. She found that there were really comfortable places to “watch” the games in the MSC if, during the game, the weather was too hot, too cold or too rainy. After a while, she just sent Jed to the games!
Gale was a wonderful mom to her daughter, Jessica. She volunteered at both St. Anne’s and Kelly High School when Jessica was a student there. She loved having Jessica’s friends in the house. Jessica’s friend Amy Graham said, “She always wanted to know everything about us – about our families, about how we were doing. She cared.” Jessica says that her mom was her greatest cheerleader! Gale loved Jessica’s husband Matthew Lynn. Matthew said, “I’ve never been more welcomed than by that woman, so loved by someone who wasn’t blood family. When I met Gale, that’s when I knew I wanted to marry Jessica.”
Gale was a wonderful daughter to her mother, Emily Green. She spent hours and hours, days and days helping her mother and Jack Fugate with errands, doctors’ appointments and health issues. Gale also spent hours and hours, days and days with her mom, her aunts and Leta Stringer. They did jigsaw puzzles. They played rousing games of Hand and Foot or Rummikub. They drank coffee and ate cake. They laughed and laughed and laughed, but they always kept score and each worked really hard beat the other. Her caretaking extended to Jed’s dad, Chick Dollinger, Sr. Gale took meticulous care of him before his death in 1993. Maybe we can say Gale specialized in taking care of older folks!
Gale loved time at the beach with Jed and her family. She enjoyed travelling with Jed to CPA conventions when they were younger and then on trips to Charleston, Cape Cod and the Bahamas with Jed and his family. She loved books, cross-word puzzles, daytime TV and cats! “The year our cat Mama had kittens in the laundry room, Gale was there with her for the whole event. I think she was the midwife,” said Jed. She loved family gatherings and hosted both the Greens and Dollingers for many a holiday celebrations – Christmas was forever her favorite season. Jessica even remembers the time she hosted a “Who Shot J.R.?” Party in the early 90’s.
Gale is survived by her husband of forty-nine years, John E. ‘Jed’ Dollinger; and daughter, Jessica Lynn and her husband, Matthew T. Lynn, of Spring, Texas.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Emily and J.W. ‘Sam’ Green; and sister, Jamie Estes.
The Dollingers want to thank Terri Murray, RN, Joann Spriggs and Candy Gore for their kindness and expertise in caring for Gale.
A gathering of Mrs. Dollinger’s family and friends will begin at 9:30 a.m. with her funeral service to follow at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, June 30, 2016, at Broussard’s 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. Her committal will be held at Broussard’s Crematorium, Beaumont.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Humane Society of Southeast Texas, P.O. Box 1629, Beaumont, Texas, 77704; or to Some Other Place, P.O. Box 843, Beaumont, Texas 77704.
