Dorothy Rainbolt McBride

Dorothy Rainbolt McBride was born December 17, 1923 in Houston, Texas and died at the age of 97 on June 8, 2021 in Harlingen, Texas.

She met the love of her life, William Andrew McBride, when he and another Army Air Corps cadet at Ellington Field attended a service at Houston's First Methodist Church.  Dorothy turned to her friend, pointed at Bill, and said that was the man she was going to marry.  After Bill returned from his WWII overseas duty, they married at that same church on November 18, 1944.  Bill and Dorothy’s continuing love for each other was evidenced in simple ways,  such as how they always held hands as they walked together. Bill and Dorothy had been married for over 66 years at the time of his death. They resided in Harlingen since 1947 with the exception of 3 years when they lived in Ozona and Brownsville.

Family meant everything to Dorothy. Quality time with her loved ones always gave her joy. She had a passion for travel, and she and Bill organized many trips for the family. Dorothy’s children and grandchildren remember these vacations with great fondness.

Dorothy was a founding member and first president of the Tip-O-Texas Genealogical Society. She was involved in the Daughters of the American Revolution and Chapters BY and FE of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, serving as president of each chapter.  She was also a member of the First United Methodist Church in Harlingen.

Her genealogy interest took her into innumerable libraries, dusty courthouse archives, and many overgrown cemeteries as she researched her family tree and the origins of the Rainbolt name.  Her research led her to coauthor a Rainbolt family history which received an award as The Outstanding Texas Family History of 1988.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bill, her parents, George Franklin Rainbolt and Nannie Attaway Rainbolt, and her siblings James Horace Rainbolt, Thomas Marion Rainbolt, Rosalind Rainbolt Williver, Virginia Rainbolt Berwick, and Gordon Langston Rainbolt, and her daughter in law, Judith Ann “Judy” McBride.

Dorothy is survived by her children Sandra McBride Hackard (James Clifford Hackard) of San Antonio and William Andrew "Bill" McBride, Jr. of Harlingen.  She leaves five grandchildren: Andrew Scott Hackard of Austin; Gretchen Hackard of Garland, TX; Erin May McBride Hodgson (Mark Allan Hodgson) of Brownsville; Molly Rose McBride of Austin; and Sara Elizabeth McBride Bowman (Nicholas Lawrence Bowman) of Atlanta, Georgia. She also leaves four great grandchildren: Ella Katherine Hodgson, Cameron Lily Hodgson, Luke Allan Hodgson, and Benjamin Nicholas Bowman, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Following a private family burial, a Celebration of Life will be Tuesday, June 15, 2021 at 11 am at Buck Ashcraft San Benito Funeral Home. (Click the link below to view a live-stream of the Celebration of Life.)

Memorial contributions may be made to The Marbridge Foundation, P.O. Box 2250, 2310 Bliss Spillar Road, Manchaca, TX 78652; The CARE CORPS at First United Methodist Church, 321 E. Harrison, Harlingen, TX 78550; or The Tip-O-Tex Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 2143, South Padre Island, 78597.

The family would like to thank the staff of Golden Palms, DHR Hospice, and Lucy Garcia and Olivia Vela for their loving support.