The Community Foundation of Randolph County continues to celebrate local heroes who have impacted the community or exceeded expectations to serve others. This effort is the result of a Community Foundation program that helps recognize such people, while also raising money to help others. The program started in 2015, and since that date, this marks the 36th Randolph County Hero nomination. For $1,000 anyone can nominate a person (living or deceased), business, or community organization for the designation of a Randolph County Hero. The money goes into an unrestricted fund, which the Community Foundation uses to do and support great things in Randolph County for years to come. Gifts made to endowed, unrestricted funds, such as the Randolph County Heroes Fund, will be matched $2 dollars for every $1 dollar donated through June 30, 2028, or while matching funds last.
Those designated as Randolph County Heroes will have their names on a plaque at the Foundation office and will be featured in media outlets. The Randolph County Heroes Fund is a great way to honor those currently working to make Randolph County a better place to live or to remember and recognize the impact of someone who has passed. Our newest heroes, Dale and Linda Dodd, were nominated by Gale Medler, aunt of Kristi Halloran.
When you are awakened in the middle of the night by the family dog for the usual trip outside, you don’t expect to end up a hero. However, when you are someone who has repeatedly sprung into action when a moment calls, you may find another such moment.
Such was the case for our newest Randolph County Heroes, Dale and Linda Dodd, when in the wee hours of June 25, 2025, Dale found himself running across the yard to alert his neighbors, Matt and Kristi Halloran, that their house was on fire.
A Randolph County native Dale has been a pillar of the Randolph Central Schools community for decades, working at both Deerfield Elementary and Driver Middle Schools in addition to his time coaching. In fact, even after leaving Deerfield for Driver, Dale had a habit of returning to his original building to celebrate the various retirements of his longtime coworkers.
Dale and his wife Linda have been longtime family friends for Kristi Halloran as Dale coached basketball at Winchester Community High School alongside Kristi’s late father Gary Horner. Moving in next to the Dodds in 2022, the Hallorans felt right at home.
In those early hours of June 25, Dale Dodd continued his habit of being quick to respond at a moment of crisis. While Kristi had been awakened by an unusual alarm that Matt quickly recognized as a smoke detector, Dale was pounding on their windows soon after to alert them to the fire, which he had noticed as the flames reflected off a trailer parked in the driveway.
Prior to departing his own house, Dale had awakened Linda and instructed her to call 911. As Matt, Kristi, their daughters, and their dog escaped through the front door to safety, Dale and Linda welcomed them – and then other members of Matt and Kristi’s extended family who arrived to comfort them – into their home as the fire department fought the blaze until daybreak.
Even after the fire was extinguished, Dale and Linda Dodd have continued to assist the Halloran family – from cleaning up and salvaging items after the fire to watching over the property as the rebuilding of the house occurs.
“We cannot thank them enough for their ongoing compassion, kindness, and genuine concern for our family,” Kristi Halloran shared.
Through his positive impact on generations of Randolph Central students and athletes and his selflessness in assisting the Halloran family in their time of need, Dale and Linda Dodd are Randolph County Heroes.