Frank Ernest Dodge II Obituary

Frank Ernest Dodge II loved few things more than spending hunting season on the mountain. It was a time that he revered like a holiday, and one he celebrated for the final time with his brothers Eric and Peter and the rest of his Vermont family last fall.

From that trip, Frank brought home a buck that he seemingly convinced to walk right to him in the forest – a lucky sign of his talent for spotting game.

Frank was born in Burlington, Vermont on December 7, 1957 to parents Barbara Clark Dodge and Frank Ernest Dodge. Frank learned to hunt, ski and tell almost-believable stories alongside his three brothers Peter, Eric and Danny at Camp — which was a small log cabin resting at the foot of Butternut Mountain in Johnson, Vermont.

It provided the rustic base of operations for hunting and family gatherings. Frank loved that cabin and all its memories and he would stay in the cabin whenever he visited.

Being there brought him back to times when grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and cousins, and his mom and dad gathered together. The reason for the events varied, but the love of family was ever present.

The sounds of children playing, laughter, story-telling, or the crackle of a fire in the fireplace could be heard emanating from every log. Those memories provided Frank with the feeling that he never left Vermont or his family behind.

Instead, he'd only stepped away to create new memories with his own family. Appropriately so, because this little cabin in the hills of Vermont is where Frank and Susan Shapleigh-Dodge were married in 1993 after meeting in Colorado. They began their life's journey at a place filled with love, surrounded by family.

Frank and Susi settled in Colorado, where they made lifelong friends working on the trails of the Western slope with the Colorado High Guide Service, fondly known as CHUGS, in the Flat Tops.

Frank and Susi raised two daughters, Jessi and Kinsee Dodge, first in Sweetwater and then on the eastern side of the state in Kiowa, where they built their family home, which he lived in until his passing.

He spent years teaching his girls about sports, hard work and love of family. He frequently gloated to his brothers about the success of his wife and his daughters in school and in work.

Frank passed away peacefully on Sept. 5, 2022 after a battle with cancer. He was surrounded by family in the comfort of his home in Kiowa. He is survived by his wife Susi; his daughters Jessi and Kinsee; his father Frank; his brothers Eric and Peter; and multiple nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life will be held on Sept. 18, 2022 at Once Upon a Time Events (31242 Wedemeyer Rd., Kiowa, CO 80117) from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m. A celebration in Vermont will be organized at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make a donation in Frank's memory to the Colorado Mule Deer Association's Youth on the Hunt Program.