Rebecca Rhue Dooley

Rebecca Rhue Dooley was perhaps the most gracious woman I have ever met. She was my brother's wife.My brother met her while in college, and around '43 or '44 she came to Dayton to meet his family. She was the youngest of three sisters, all from Indiana.

Brother Bud went in to the service in '43, out of college, and their courtship apparently flourished. In '44, Bud, or Dean, his real name, was getting a weekend leave. He was station in Cuba at the Naval Base, where his submarine, the S-11, was in port. He was going to fly to Miami and meet us. We got down a day or two early, and Becky, wanted to look her best, laid out in the sun, too long. She was red and puffy when he finally got to Miami.

After the war, the got married, and their first job was a coaching job in Monrovia, Indiana, a crossroads town, but a hotbed of basketball. They lived in an old farmhouse they rented from Cotty Dillon. It was heated by an old stove, no plumbing or running water. Rebecca, being the trooper that she was, made a home for them and took it "like a trooper." We went over for a Thanksgiving visit. Dad had made her a, well, an indoor commode, a wooden box with a lid, hole in the top, etc., and a bucket. For those times when you didn't want to make to "walk" outside.

After a few years, they moved to Dayton, brother too a coaching job there. I was away to school, then the Navy, so really saw little of them. Then they moved to Michigan and then to Arizona, so my time with them was limited and rare.

However, during that time, Rebecca was diagnosed with ALS, the Lou Gehrig's Disease as it is called today and the reason for all of the ice water dousings. I was not around her during this part of her life, I only have heard stories about it. It must be a hideous thing to see, the gradual loss of ..... everything.

I forget the year, but Kevin Dooley, her son, was getting married. We attended the wedding. Rebecca, had leg braces attached to her weakened legs .... I am tearing up a bit just recalling that incident .... she was determined to dance with her son at his wedding, and she did ... how difficult for her ... I can only imagine.

ALS took a wonderful lady, a mother and a wife, and a sister in law .... I must admit I am thankful I did not witness that insidious gradual decline of her life ... Rebecca Rhue Dooley .... incidentally, her sister just passed away recently, at nearly 104.

Rebeca Rhue Dooley, Mother to three ........

In a way, this is a Mother's Day thought for Rebecca Rhue, who is pictured here with my brother, Dean Shannon Dooley. Her son, Kevin, did a Facebook item, and brought back so many memories.

I think, 1943, I first met Rebecca, or Becky as we called her. At that time she was dating my brother, and I think I remember the instant I met her.

She has been gone a long time, Lou Gehrig's Disease. I was not around her then, but for that insidious disease to attack her, was, well, something that never should have happened. She was the epitome of graciousness. I am sure a loving Mother to three children, and a gracious wife to my brother.

I remember my heroes were race car drivers, midgets, went to all the races, I was probably 11 or 12. For my birthday, she got me calling cards, aka, Dood Dooley, one of my heroes was Sod Sanders. Never forgot those.

Prior to the end of WWII, my brother was stationed in Cuba, and was going to get leave and fly to Miami. Mom, Dad and I and Becky, took the train to Miami to spend a few days with him. We were a day early, so she wanted to get a tan, to look her best. She was out too long, she was a little burned and swollen when he arrived.

They got married after the war. They took his first job in Monrovia, Indiana, a crossroads town, they lived in a farmhouse with a wood stove for heat, cold and drafty, no indoor facilities. My Dad made her a nice, blue and white, "indoor" "one seater."

I was not around her as her health failed, it was a fairly long, heartbreaking time, I am sure. The last time I saw her was at her son's wedding. She was in pain, moving was difficult, but she put on leg braces, and a stiff upper lip, and danced, the first dance, with her son. I think back on that, often. I am sure it took more than we will ever know, for her to do that.

As we left, and said our farewells, we knew it would probably be the last time we would see her.

This was all brought to my mind today, as her Son, Kevin, paid his respects on Facebook.