Ross Dodd
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Percy Ross Dodd (1909 - 1999)

Percy Ross (Ross) Dodd
Born in Kadina, South Australia, Australiamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 12 Apr 1941 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Father of [private daughter (1940s - unknown)], , [private son (1950s - unknown)] and [private son (1950s - unknown)]
Died at age 89 in Coobowie, South Australia, Australiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 10 Aug 2014
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Biography

ref. Advertiser 24/4/1999 Earlier an 89-year-old male driver from Stansbury died when he lost control of his Ford Fairlane. It flipped over a steep embankment just after 6.30 pm. 2km. east of Coobowie, on Yorke Peninsula. The man had three passengers in the car, believed to be his family, said a spokesman from Edithburgh police. All of the injured were taken to the Yorketown hospital. One has suspected spinal injuries and the others are in a stable condition. CFS crews from Edithburgh and Yorketown attended the accident.

By Ross Dodd My childhood days at Kadina were very happy. My cousin Les (who was my age and lived across the road from us ); his cousin Gordon Milkins (who lived nearby); and I played together for years without ever quarreling. This close friendship continued until manhood, when our life careers and distance separated us.

When we moved to Stansbury in 1920 I had to finish my schooling at Weavers, a twenty student rural school. This was a vast change from the Wallaroo Mines and Kadina schools with populations of between 500-800 students. Unfortunately, because of the lack of local high schools and tight finances I was unable to continue my education after completing primary school at Weavers.

On leaving school I spent several years working in the orchard and farming business. We sold fruit locally and had quite an extensive clientele on S.Y.P. During the Depression years my brother Harold and I learnt sheep shearing at which we both became very proficient. The extra income enabled us to establish ourselves and to afford various amenities in our homes in later years. I worked in a farming partnership with Harold until around 1953.

After we went our separate ways, I built up my land holding, assisted by good wool prices of the early 1950s and hard work. Some of the land purchased was virgin scrub. This required great ingenuity in the clearing for cropping. In the early 1950s I spent much time attepting to design an implement to pull out "yakkas", an extremely toygh native plant. During this time I battled swampy land and sand hills to establish myself during the 1950s and 60s. My two elder sons, Peter and Colin, worked the farm together for some 15 years and added furthur properties to the acreage during the 1970s and 1980s.

I always loved sport and spent many long hours at night on the tractor to make up for Saturday afternoons at football, cricket or golf. When I became too old for cricket, I raced a speedboat, "Blondie" for four years, but sold it in order to help form a bowling club in 1956. Bowls became a very important part of my life. I held every office over a period of 40 Years and was one of the first two members to be honoured as a life member. Because of my knowledge of the club from it's inception, I was asked to record the history of Stansbury Bowling Club,which I completed in booklet form in 1992.

Community involvement has been an important part of my life. During the 1960s and 1970s I served unopposed as a councillor on the District Council of Yorketown, an experience which I enjoyed. I am also a life member of the Weavers Agricultural Bureau, having been a member for 30 or 40 years. As well, I have always taken an active interest in the life of the church which has also been an outlet for my love of music, particularly organ music. Although my formal music tuition was limited, I have been able to read a bass part in choir work and played the piano and organ in my younger days.

In 1937 I met Mary Page, a school teacher at Wool Bay, a few miles south of Stansbury. Mary was born on 20th December 1916, the daughter of George and Florence Page of Moonta. We quickly formed a lasting friendship resulting in marriage on 12 April 1941. It was the best decision of my life! Maryhas always been a loving spouse and a tower of strength. She accepted the major responsibility for raising our four children, as I was often working long hours, or away from home shearing. She has been a dedicated farmer's wife raising poultry and milking cows as well as managing the home.


we are proud of our four children, who have all proved successful in their chosen careers. Jillian chose not to marry but has found this has given her freedom to fulfil her love of learning through teaching and continuing study. Peter and Colin are competent farmers, with Peter taking on a second career in methane gas extrusion, in Adelaide, in th 1990s. Ian is a highly successful civil engineer and surveying consultant. The boys are all happily married with two girls and three boys between them.

We moved from the farm to a new home at 7 Anzac Parade, Stansbury in 1973. Now at the age of 86 years, I see my years of a hard working life taking their toll. However, I have had a wonderful relationship with my wife and family, of whom I am very proud. My efforts over the last few years in searching out our family background have been very rewarding and have given me a particular interest, which I trust will be appreciated by subsequent generations and retained for posterity.



Sources

Taken from Dossier on Dodd by Gail Dodd





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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Ross by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Ross:

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