Obituaries : * Minnie May Dobes, 95; Red Cross Worker

Minnie May Dobes, an Ojai resident who worked in the Red Cross during both world wars, died June 12. She was 95.

Dobes was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and lived in Ojai for 24 years.

Dobes worked in a hospital in Ohio during World War I, daughter Ellen Weber said. During World War II, Dobes worked in a Pasadena hotel that had been converted into a hospital for injured soldiers. Although she hadn’t been trained as a nurse, Dobes was well-suited to caring for battle-scarred servicemen, Weber said.

“Mother just had that quality,” she said. “She was good with people with psychological problems.”

Dobes opened her house to many soldiers, inviting many over for home-cooked meals. “We always had a house full of boys,” Weber said. “Mother had a sugar bowl, and she’d put money in there. If one of the boys was in a pinch they’d borrow it, no questions asked. They just helped themselves, but it was always returned.”

In later years, Dobes devoted herself to her family and her garden. She also was active in Unity, a religious study group based in Missouri, Weber said.

Dobes was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Otto.

She is survived by Weber; son-in-law Jack Weber of Ojai; granddaughter Camille Gridley of Minnesota and her husband, Fred; granddaughter Constance Voelz of Oregon, her husband, Jim, and son, Vernon; son-in-law Rod Koutnik of Arizona; sister Camille Ricker of Ohio; stepsister Anne Altman of Sepulveda, Calif., and stepsister Elsie Cerney of Florida.

Remembrances can be made to Silent Unity--1901 N.W. Blue Parkway, Unity Village, Mo., 64065--or to Help of Ojai, 111 W. Santa Ana St., Ojai, 93023.