DIXON —Harriet Ann Badger, 95, died at home Wednesday morning, Nov. 11, in Dixon.

A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at First Presbyterian Church, Dixon, with the Rev. Dr. David Spaulding officiating. Visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10, at Preston-Schilling Funeral Home, Dixon. Burial will be in Deer Park Cemetery, Ottawa, with a graveside service at 2 p.m. Monday.

Mrs. Badger was born May 23, 1920, on the family farm in Farm Ridge Township, La Salle County, to Earnest W. Hodgson and Edith K. (Lehr) Hodgson. This farm, a beautiful piece of fertile Midwestern ground graced with historic farm buildings, would be a central point of reference defining Harriet Ann Badger during her long life.

Harriet Ann attended country school in the elementary grades, and graduated from Ottawa High School in 1938. She won a coveted scholarship to Illinois State Normal University to become a teacher; and a teacher she remained, in formal and informal capacities, throughout her life.

After graduating from the university in 1942, she accepted a position as sixth-grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Dixon, where she taught for eight years. Miss Hodgson loved her pupils, as she called them (even after they grew up). She embraced the life of the school and formed lasting relationships with her colleagues and students.

During her years as a young teacher, she took summer courses at the University of Colorado, Boulder, developing special expertise in geology and outdoor education, and confirming her lifelong love of the mountains. She became involved in Girl Scouting, and was a counselor at Camp Ralston, Dixon, for several years. Her loyalty to Lincoln School extended into her 95th year, when she embarked on a successful letter-writing campaign to advocate for preservation of the school's Young Lincoln statue after the school was closed.

In 1947, Harriet Ann met a dashing Dixon lawyer, Warren H. Badger, from the firm of Warner and Warner, who had returned from over three years of WWII service in the Army Air Corps and Counter Intelligence Corps. Warren was the love of her life. They married on June 24, 1950, at First Presbyterian Church of Grand Ridge, and were able to celebrate 54 years of marriage before Warren's death.

She and Warren together became members of First Presbyterian Church of Dixon in 1950, and both remained active in the church throughout their lives. They served as Sunday school teachers and joined the Presbyterian Mariners organization. Harriet Ann was a member of Presbyterian Church Women, participated faithfully in their missions of service, and met regularly with her church circle until the very end of her life.