Dovie: A Forgotten Heroine
Donation protected
1979 was a hard year for Dovie.
She was nineteen and found herself on the run with four children and deathly afraid. They weren’t her children, but she couldn’t leave them in the situation they were in, she had to rescue them. So, she did.
This tumultuous week would define the rest of her short life, which would only last two more years. In 1981, Dovie, at twenty one years old, was found by her husband of only a few months, after a thirty minute search, dead at a local park from a self inflicted gunshot wound. It was April 21st, she had heard something earlier that day that may have driven her over the edge with fear.

This project is based on a true story. The only problem is that I don’t know most of the details. I was one of the four children, the youngest, and I’ve clung to murky images, ideas and feelings for thirty seven years. This year I began a journey into those dark days, to bring to light the memory of a girl, driven by heroism and haunted by fear, whose life ended tragically. The only declaration of her short life is a small nondescript headstone in a little cemetery in West Texas.
I spent one day in Monahans, Texas a few weeks ago. I was carrying a domestic violence awareness exhibit to St. Louis, Missouri from Phoenix, Arizona. One of the central pieces in this exhibit is a memorial to Dovie. It’s rich with symbolism and references to her intervention, but it lacks any true description or personal attribution because I simply don’t remember anything about this woman, except that she was young, had a bob style haircut and freckles.
I thought I would be able to find out more about Dovie on this trip, but ran into several dead ends. One of my relatives that knew her told me she was from a small neighboring town, Kermit, Texas. I just didn’t have enough times to follow the leads that I did find.
In order to continue this important project, I need to go back to West Texas, for several days, to research this young woman, her family, her hometown, so her story can be brought to life, and not forgotten, relegated to a few square inches of marble.
Once an accurate snapshot of Dovie is created, a true memorial can be crafted, with her true likeness. When the details of her last two years are filled in, a short film script can be completed and shot on location. Hers wasn’t a perfect triumph, but it was a win that should never be forgotten.
The funds raised here will cover travel expenses and time necessary for research which will be used to complete her memorial art piece and script development to create a short film about a hero, forgotten.
I will be traveling back to St. Louis at the end of October to move our Domestic Violence Awareness Exhibit back to Phoenix and would like to travel to West Texas on the return trip.
Your help in raising funds for this project is so appreciated. Dovie's story should not be forgotten, it should be told so her action can be celebrated and her passing can be mourned for the loss it truly represents.
She was nineteen and found herself on the run with four children and deathly afraid. They weren’t her children, but she couldn’t leave them in the situation they were in, she had to rescue them. So, she did.
This tumultuous week would define the rest of her short life, which would only last two more years. In 1981, Dovie, at twenty one years old, was found by her husband of only a few months, after a thirty minute search, dead at a local park from a self inflicted gunshot wound. It was April 21st, she had heard something earlier that day that may have driven her over the edge with fear.
This project is based on a true story. The only problem is that I don’t know most of the details. I was one of the four children, the youngest, and I’ve clung to murky images, ideas and feelings for thirty seven years. This year I began a journey into those dark days, to bring to light the memory of a girl, driven by heroism and haunted by fear, whose life ended tragically. The only declaration of her short life is a small nondescript headstone in a little cemetery in West Texas.
I spent one day in Monahans, Texas a few weeks ago. I was carrying a domestic violence awareness exhibit to St. Louis, Missouri from Phoenix, Arizona. One of the central pieces in this exhibit is a memorial to Dovie. It’s rich with symbolism and references to her intervention, but it lacks any true description or personal attribution because I simply don’t remember anything about this woman, except that she was young, had a bob style haircut and freckles.
I thought I would be able to find out more about Dovie on this trip, but ran into several dead ends. One of my relatives that knew her told me she was from a small neighboring town, Kermit, Texas. I just didn’t have enough times to follow the leads that I did find.
In order to continue this important project, I need to go back to West Texas, for several days, to research this young woman, her family, her hometown, so her story can be brought to life, and not forgotten, relegated to a few square inches of marble.
Once an accurate snapshot of Dovie is created, a true memorial can be crafted, with her true likeness. When the details of her last two years are filled in, a short film script can be completed and shot on location. Hers wasn’t a perfect triumph, but it was a win that should never be forgotten.
The funds raised here will cover travel expenses and time necessary for research which will be used to complete her memorial art piece and script development to create a short film about a hero, forgotten.
I will be traveling back to St. Louis at the end of October to move our Domestic Violence Awareness Exhibit back to Phoenix and would like to travel to West Texas on the return trip.
Your help in raising funds for this project is so appreciated. Dovie's story should not be forgotten, it should be told so her action can be celebrated and her passing can be mourned for the loss it truly represents.
Organizer
Armando Heredia
Organizer
Buckeye, AZ
