A Brookfield resident her entire life, Doris Clarkson Dodd was born in 1925 in the Clarkson family home on Crosby Street. She spent her childhood surrounded by an entrepreneurial family with grandfather and father owning and operating Clarkson Butcher/Grocery Store and her mother operated the Clarkson's Beauty Shop, all on Crosby Street, often referred to as Clarksonville.

Doris attended the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church School for four years before completing her education in the Brookfield School System. She played the cello in the orchestra and trombone in the band. She also played a snare drum in the Kilties Drum Corp that traveled to Kansas City to march in the American Royal parade. She was a member of the Kaleidoscope Drama Club, tap danced in the school musical productions and was queen of her senior prom, graduating from BHS in the class of 1943. She completed a two-year liberal arts degree from Christian College and completed her BA degree in Education at the University of Missouri where she was a member of Delta Gamma sorority.

Doris married Jack Banning and raised four children, Julie, Jamie, Jim and John and was stepmother to Judy and Jill Ross, and Greg, Linda, Craig and Allen Dodd, all BHS graduates.

Doris taught kindergarten for 25 years in the Brookfield School District, most of those years in the Park School. She was the first Head-Start teacher in Brookfield and following retirement, she organized a preschool for the Christian Church. She personally operated Noah's Ark for two years, retiring for a second time! Doris was a founding member of the Brookfield Chapter of Beta Sigma Phi, has served on the Carnegie Library Board, and has been a member of High-fliers Club for 70 years.

Doris was baptized on April 4, 1936, and has been an active member of the First Christian Church (FCC) throughout her life. She has served as a Diaconate for two, three-year terms, assisted in the 100-year FCC Centennial Celebration committee and an active member in the Christian Women's Fellowship Association, holding many offices through the years. She has lived an inspiring life of service with unselfish commitment and a strong sense of duty to her family, to her church, and to Brookfield.