Dorothy Herchenroeder Rood, 91, passed away February 17, 2009, in
Atlantic Beach, FL. She was the beloved wife of Leslie Rood, retired
U.S. Army officer, university professor and diplomat.
Born March 15, 1917, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Dorothy had a
distinguished career between 1939 and 1946 as a stenographer for the
Social Security Board's War Manpower Commission in Washington, D.C.,
and the OSS with an assimilated rank of second lieutenant serving in
London, Paris and Wiesbaden, Germany, during WWII. She was in Paris on
V-E day. In 1945-46 she was a staff member with the Anglo-American
Committee of Inquiry into Palestine in the Department of State in
Washington, D.C., and in Palestine where she met Leslie. Dorothy and
Leslie were married in Mankato, Minnesota, in 1947.
Following the war Dorothy and Leslie Rood lived in several foreign
service posts, including Greece, Iran, Malta, the Ivory Coast (Africa),
Milan, Rome and Naples, Italy. Raising a family in foreign countries
presented challenges as well as opportunities for this Nebraska native
who had only traveled to Clay Center, Kansas, and a family farm in
Linn, Kansas, to visit her father's relatives before joining the war
effort.
Dorothy and Leslie became full-time residents in Warren following
Leslie's retirement from Georgia State University and Dorothy's
graduation from Georgia State in 1979. In Warren they made many friends
and were active community members. Dorothy was a grandmother of the
first order, volunteering in the classroom in the Warren School and
enjoying her grandchildren when not traveling to China, Russia, Turkey
and France.
Surviving Mrs. Rood are her sons, Leslie Macrae Rood ("Mac") and his
wife Bobbi in Warren and David Rood and his wife Mary Shuman of
Atlanta, GA, as well as four grandchildren: Sarah, Allison, Grant and
Drake.
She will be remembered as a loving grandmother, mother and wife, an
avid reader, bridge player, reluctant but excellent cook, good neighbor
and lifelong learner. A family memorial gathering will be held in July
at her Warren home. She was loved and will be missed by all who knew
her.
