Читать книгу Prison Puzzle Pieces 3 - Dave Basham - Страница 30

In January of 2003, Sgt. Dodge had been at a party with people from work. He had been tossing down a few beers and of course, playing his guitar. He lost his life on the way home that night. He was 60 years old.

Three inmates spoke at his funeral.

Inmates wrote letters of condolence to his family. One offender had me check it over for grammatical errors and type it up for him to sign. This letter was written by Boomer and is in the chapter about Boomer.

One of them wrote, "He taught us about change and forgiveness but never judged us. He would always say, 'If your heart is good, you are good. If it ain't good, you need to assess what's inside and make a transition.'”

At Dodge’s funeral, hundreds of people signed his guitar case. His kids put his remains in the case. His ashes were walked through the prison in his guitar case. Officers and inmates stood in silence and saluted as he passed by.

Sgt. Dodge had told his kids that he wanted a Viking funeral. The Vikings would pile up a lot of combustible material, put the body on top and set it on fire. His kids set the guitar case on fire with Sgt. Dodge’s ashes inside. They spread the ashes over Lake Superior.

He was just one of many good men that most people will never know about, but in Stillwater Prison, his legend will live on.