Doris "Dody" Elaine Harms

Doris "Dody" E. Harms, 90, of Fort Dodge, passed away Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at Friendship Haven, surrounded by her loving family.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM Monday January 29, 2024, at St. Paul Lutheran Church. Burial will follow at North Lawn Cemetery. A visitation will be held on Sunday January 28, 2024, from 2:00 to 5:00 PM at Laufersweiler Funeral Home.

Doris Elaine Nelson was born to Peter and Esther Nelson, August 29, 1933, and grew up on the family farm near Eagle Grove, Iowa. She graduated from Eagle Grove High School in 1950 with a love of music and a knowing that she wanted to work with young kids. She attended Eagle Grove Junior College and received her teaching certificate in 1952. In 1956, she was united in marriage to Gerald Harms at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Eagle Grove. They were married for 57 years until Gerald’s death in 2013. Gerald and Dody lived near Moorland before moving to Fort Dodge in 1960.

Dody is survived by her four children: Laura (Jack) Shere of Charlotte Hall, MD; Jeff Harms of Fort Dodge; Anne (Dean) Panovich of Kansas City; and Beth (Stephen) Ball of Denver, CO. She is also survived by ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, which were her pride and joy.

Dody loved kids and spent her whole life teaching and loving on her students, kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. She taught first grade in Jefferson from 1952 to 1955, and at Duncombe Elementary School from 1955 to 1958 before becoming a full-time mother and managing a busy household. Dody was also very instrumental in helping Gerald with the family farm operations. She could often be seen on the Badger backroads driving the tractor to haul grain into town or working in the field. You could always depend on Dody for whatever task was needed.

Dody was an active member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge. She participated in Circles and served on Alter Guild for many years. She loved family gatherings and hosted the Nelson and Harms Christmas celebrations many years. Dody also enjoyed gardening, canning, word games, playing the piano, card clubs, and traveling.

Doris and Gerald traveled to see many parts of the United States, often using their kids’ locations as the home base for travel. They always drove and took the “scenic route”, believing that exploring along the way was part of the adventure. The most memorable trip was loading up the family station wagon for a three-week expedition to Alaska in 1974 where they drove the Alcan Highway. Other noteworthy trips were to the Redwood Forest, Hawaii, Washington D.C., Niagara Falls, Colorado, fishing trips to Minnesota, and many visits to Las Vegas and the southwest U.S. visiting friends.

Food was Dody’s love language. If you stopped at Dody’s you were bound to be fed and fed well. She was an excellent cook and even better baker. Everyone loved her cookies, kringla, and cinnamon rolls, and the grandkids often requested what they called the Grandma Dody Special (homemade macaroni and cheese).

If you knew Dody, you know she wasn’t happy unless she was taking care of someone or something. She loved her family fiercely and would drop everything to help any one of them at any time. She was a loving wife, mom, grandma, great-grandma and friend. Her care and concern will be missed by all. Dody is now with her husband Gerald Harms, parents Peter and Esther Nelson, sister Betty Nelson, brother Lyle Nelson, daughter-in-law Glenda Harms; and infant grandson Christian Ball.

The family would like to thank the staff at Friendship Haven and Unity Point Hospice for their loving care of Dody.

In lieu of flowers, the family will be making memorial contributions to the Christian Ransom Ball Scholarship Fund for Down syndrome and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.