Dobson is a Baldwin County native. She grew up in Foley and graduated from Foley High School. For the past 14 years, she’s worked in the insurance field, most recently for an agency in Foley. Dobson calls herself a people person, which comes in handy in her line of work. It also helps that many of the faces she sees on a daily basis are familiar to her. “Between my work and living here all my life, I know a lot of people in the county,” she says.
In addition to working full time, Dobson is a mother to a 20 year-old son and a 16 year-old daughter. Her husband of 12 years is a sergeant with the Robertsdale Police Department.
The family really enjoys boating and being out on the waters of the Gulf. “When we’re not at the soccer fields watching my daughter, we’re on the water,” Dobson says. Her husband is really into fishing, but she says she’s personally more of a spectator than a fisherman. There was a time when she would try her hand at skiing and other water sports, but not now. “Things hurt a lot worse when you get older,” Dobson confesses. Nowadays, she says it’s more about soaking up the sun and enjoying what she calls umbrella drinks. “We have our own secluded little spot close to Ono Island that not a lot of people know about,” she says. If the family has free time and the weather is right, that’s where you’ll find them.
Even their family vacations are close to home, because, as Dobson puts it, “why go anywhere else when we’re already in paradise?” Usually they’ll be joined by relatives from Athens, Alabama for a week-long stay at one of the many condos available in Orange Beach.
Lately, a lot of Dobson’s extra time has been devoted to helping out friend and fellow Baldwin County native Bill Quinley, who was recently diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. Along with her husband and a circle of friends, Dobson has been helping to organize raffles and other fundraisers to help Quinley and his family pay for his medical costs and living expenses while he battles the disease. “Our first raffle raised $7,500. Our goal for the next one is $25,000,” Dobson says.
Seeing a community come together to support one of its own probably wouldn’t be possible if Baldwin County weren’t such a close-knit environment. It’s that kindness and laid back nature of the county that keeps Dobson from ever wanting to live anywhere else. Although she says she wouldn’t mind vacationing to Belize or the Caribbean, somewhere she can enjoy the sand and sun just like at home.
Dobson says she has at least another 15 years of work ahead of her before she can retire. But she admits that doesn’t stop her from looking forward to the days when she can live on “island time” all the time.