Jim Dodson’s technical job description at Muskegon Heights High School was equipment manager – counting jerseys, taking care of the balls and washing towels.  But his real work went far beyond that.  Dodson made the Muskegon Heights Tigers look good on the outside from 1966 until his death in 1992, but his real gift was the ability to reach youngsters’ minds, hearts, and souls.

An all-state football player for the Heights in 1945, Dodson was invited back to help out at his alma mater by Heights sports legend, Ossie McCarty.  For 25 years, Dodson’s daily routine for nine months of the year was the same – work eight hours delivering mail, come home and eat dinner, change his clothes and head to the high school.
‘Dr. D.’ as he was known to Tiger athletes was eventually paid for his work of taping ankles, cleaning jerseys, fixing lockers, sweeping dressing rooms, rubbing his special ointment on sprains and sore muscles and anything else the coaches needed.  But he was never paid for his extensive counseling work.  And he never charged for his shirts, pants or jackets the he would give to kids who desperately needed them.

The father of three children with his wife Helen, Dodson was active in the U.S. Army Reserves for almost 40 years.