Robert Lawrence Dolan, “Bob” passed from this life on November 8, at the age of 89. Born to Wallace and Jeanne (Polstra) Dolan of Lafayette Indiana, he had one beloved older brother, Wallace. Graduation from the University of Dubuque (Iowa) earned him an education in business and music performance in organ. An accomplished pianist, he also went on to attend the Sherwood Conservatory of Music at Columbia College in Chicago. He married his college sweetheart, the love of his life, in 1956. She always said she fell in love with his music first, while sitting in the window of her room listening to him practice through the open window of the music building next door. They couldn’t have been more different, but together, they were a force! He and Dorothy “Dodie” (Gee) were married for 63 years, when she preceded him in death two years ago, leaving him missing her sweet presence deeply ever since.
In the early years in Illinois, the family quickly grew to 4 children: Ken (Kathy) Dolan, Bob (Susan) Dolan, Jim (Shelly) Dolan, all of Conway, AR., and Kathy Brooks (Dennis) of Batesville, AR. They then marveled at the speed of years as they watched their own children become parents, and knew they were old when great-grandchildren began to arrive!
Bob began his working life with Methode Electronics in Chicago when the family was young. Life then brought them to Arkansas, where he became the Personnel Director at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville. Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff employed him as an Associate Administrator and the Director for the Davis Nursing Home for many years thereafter. His last run-up to retirement was with UAMS Kids First in Pine Bluff and later in Fort Smith, as a director. He loved the children.
The real joy that invested him into many lives was his music, as he served as a church organist for 60 years. He was a very talented and soulful musician, but genuinely modest about his ability. To him, the organ served as an instrument of what would be his very personal act of worship to the Lord. The rest of us just got to listen in! He and Dodie served alongside each other in music and Sunday School ministries all through those years, touching countless lives and making many friends who remember them both with great fondness.
His love of music is hard-wired into the genes of his family. Classical music, show tunes, big bands, and beloved hymns became the soundtrack of our childhoods, and that love has been passed from one generation to the next. We fell asleep in our beds on many a night to the sound of favorite hymns coming from the grand piano up the hall, as Dad unwound his own day in the only time the house was quiet. We watched our own little ones share the piano bench with Grandpa to “play” along. He always chose “Jesus Loves Me”. He had the most important story to tell.
Our family will have a private time of remembrance together, in lieu of a service. And as promised to them, we will release the ashes of our sweet parents together on a beautiful day in the future, over a place they thought held one of the most stunning views they ever saw in this state they loved.
Memorials can be directed to The American Theatre Organ Society (atos.org), whose mission is the preservation of theater pipe organs and the encouragement of young musicians in the art.
As I drift off to sleep at night, I can almost hear it. From hands that are restored to youthful strength and ability, hands that could play any music put before them, comes a simple tune from up the hall…
Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible told me so.