Dawn Moody, 89, passed away peacefully one year ago on November 17, 2024. Dawn’s maternal ancestors are the Eckhardt family, who are one of the founding families of Yorktown, Texas. She was born in Yorktown on January 11, 1935, to Willard M. “Bick” Moody and Laura Katherine Eckhardt Moody. Her maternal grandparents are Dr. Herman Charles Eckhardt and Laura Jane Hudson Eckhardt.

Dawn took pride in being part of a small community where her grandfather, Dr. H. C. Eckhardt, was the town’s doctor and her grandmother, Laura Eckhardt, was an educated woman who lived to be just shy of 100. Dawn lived with her grandparents during WWII and often spoke of feeling loved and adored by them. Dawn graduated from Alamo Heights High School (1952) and Trinity University (1956) in San Antonio, Texas.

After college, Dawn married Charles Lee Epps, in 1956 and moved to Houston where they raised three daughters, Melanie, Julia, and Kathy. In her early years, Dawn taught elementary school, had a modeling career, and won several beauty contests, including Miss Teen Texas and Miss San Antonio College. She was a beautiful woman, both inside and out, with a calm, quiet, yet jovial attitude towards living. She enjoyed fashion, dancing, and the adventure of travel. She traveled the world and had many grand adventures with her late husband Joe Jordan. In memory of her grandfather Dr. Eckhardt, she volunteered as a standardized patient, training young medical students to evaluate and develop better doctor-patient skills in the medical field.

Dawn was a true survivor, and although she endured many health challenges, she was grateful to have lived a long full life. Later on, she came to live with her loving and devoted daughter, Kathy, and created their multi-generational family. She is survived by her daughter, Laura Katherine “Kathy” Epps, and grandson Ryan Epps, and daughter Julia Epps, grandson Nicolas Fuentes, and sister, Lydia Ann Moody. She is preceded in death by her former husband, Charles Lee Epps, daughter, Melanie Epps Whyte, and far too many friends and family members to name.

Dawn’s memory will live in our hearts forever and she will be greatly missed. Her earthly remains are interred at Forest Park-Westheimer, in Houston, Texas, but her eternal spirit and beautiful soul will live in our hearts forever.