Doda Hearn

Born Joseph Edward Hearn in 1886, by 1910 he was referred to as Doda (Dodie) Hearn.  He was the son of Thomas Edward Hearn and Josephine Hearn.  He would marry Iva Pearl West (1895- 1983) about 1915.  The couple would have for children; William Edward (1916-1982), Jean Elizabeth (1918-2007), Alma Lee (1920-2016) and  Dolly Anne (1929-1994).

Doda could have been a character out of a Sinclair Lewis novel; he was civic minded, a flag waver, business man and a booster of Delmar.  In some ways he could be the character;  Babbitt.

He ran a clothing store in the brick building on the corner of State and Pennsylvania Avenue.  His business was Hearn and Company.  With his partners; William S. Marvil Jr, and Daniel J. Parker,  they purchased the building in 1920 for $14,000.

By 1932 he had switched over to managing an Atlantic Filling Station at the corner of Bi-State and East Street.

He was an organizer of the Delmar Fire Company and served as Chief for ten years.  He was a past president of the Wicomico County Volunteer Firemen’s Association.  He was a former President of the Mount Olive Church Men’s Bible School.  He was a member of the Delmar Lodge A. F. and A. M. 

He was active in Civil Defense at the beginning of World War Two.

In 1929 he was elected a member of the Maryland House of Delegates.

In 1934 he was elected as a Wicomico County Commissioner.

In 1942 while watching a baseball game in Delmar he had a stroke and a few days later died.  He is buried in St Stephens cemetery and his tombstone says Doda Hearn. 

His wife, Pearl, was well known in her own right.  She worked as a salesclerk at R E Powell for a number of years and as a house mother at Salisbury University before retiring.  She was a member of St Stephens, Eastern Star and Ladies Auxiliary of the United Trainsmen Union.