Minnie L. Dobbins of Henderson, Nevada, 85, passed away on June 22, 2018. She was born Minnie Belle Larson, June 11, 1933, in Blue Earth, Minnesota, to Pearl and Oscar Larson. She was married to Joseph Dobbins and had three children. She was a beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, Gan-Gan, and friend.
During her life, she loved raising her children, playing the piano and giving piano lessons to the neighborhood kids, serving as PTA president, den mother, and Girl Scout leader, gardening, camping, hiking, sewing, cooking, reading non-fiction, journaling, traveling, playing Bridge and Scrabble, and most importantly, painting in her studio. Her other passions were teaching art at CCSD and CCSN and working as an art critic for the Las Vegas Sun where she had her own column.
She received her BFA degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1975. It was there that her natural talents were realized by her professors, and she flourished. An award-winning mixed media artist, she had exhibited throughout Nevada in solo and group shows since 1982. She was nationally represented in numerous collections commissioned by General Motors, Detroit, MI; Colorado Bank Shares and South Denver National Bank, Denver, CO; Las Poloma Resort Hotel, Tucson, AZ; the International Athletic Club, Kansas City, MO; Doubletree Hotel, San Francisco, CA; Del Lago Conference Center, Montgomery, TX; and in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel, Quirk & Tratos Law Firm, Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, Stardust Hotel & Casino, Summerlin TPC Golf Course, and by art collector Steve Wynn.
In 1994, her work was featured in a one person show at the Nevada Museum of Art, in Reno, Nevada. She once wrote about her art, "It was my farm background, and the undisciplined humor of my unruly family that are reflected in my work. I paint gratefully, overjoyed that I may share what I feel."
She was preceded in death by her mother, Pearl Wooton; father, Oscar Larson; brothers, Mickey Larson, Morris Larson, Jim Larson, Joseph Larson, and Jerry Larson; husband, Joseph Dobbins; partner, Kenneth Joy; and son, Joe Dobbins.
She is survived by her daughter, Sue Wilson (Lance Wilson); son, Timothy Dobbins (Sharon Dobbins); grandchildren, Rachel Mohler (Megan Staley), Ryan Mohler (Misti Mohler), Abby Dobbins, Maddie Dobbins, and Anna Dobbins; brothers, Oscar Larson (Judy Larson), Tom Larson; and sister, Bunny Sue Wolf (Jim Wolf).
Visitation will be held Thursday, June 28, 2018, at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave., from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. She has requested private graveside rites for her immediate family and will be buried alongside her husband, Joseph Dobbins.
Simply stated in her own words, "I came, I saw, I went."
