2021 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 54
BY SENATORS FOIL, PEACOCK AND SMITH
A RESOLUTION
To express the sincere condolences of the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana upon the
death of Dr. Katherine Lindley Spaht Dodson.
WHEREAS, it is with deep regret and profound sorrow that the Senate of the
Legislature of Louisiana has learned of the untimely and tragic death of Dr. Katherine
Lindley Spaht Dodson, a proud native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and a resident of Austin,
Texas, on January 26, 2021, at the age of forty-four; and
WHEREAS, Katherine Lindley Spaht was born on June 30, 1977, in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, to Paul Holden Spaht and Katherine Lindley Shaw Spaht; and
WHEREAS, she attended St. James Episcopal Day School and was a 1995 graduate
of Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge; and
WHEREAS, she was a 1999 magna cum laude graduate in chemistry of Washington
and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, where she met her husband, Frederick Drew
Dodson; and
WHEREAS, she dedicated her life to helping children; and
WHEREAS, she was a 2003 graduate of the Louisiana State University School of
Medicine in New Orleans and completed her residency in pediatrics at Vanderbilt University
Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee; and
WHEREAS, she later served as an instructor at Harvard Medical School and as an
urgent care physician at Boston Children's Hospital; and
WHEREAS, Lindley and Drew married in 2006 and moved to Austin, Texas, in 2007
where she was a pediatric hospitalist at Dell Children's Medical Center and a faculty member
in the Department of Pediatrics at Dell Medical School; and
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WHEREAS, she was named Dell Children's Medical Center's top pediatric doctor
in both 2012 and 2017; and
WHEREAS, she joined Children's Medical Group in 2017 and was honored to
become the practice owner in 2020; and
WHEREAS, the mark she leaves as a trusted pediatrician to countless Austin families
and as a treasured colleague and mentor to the medical community will endure, and her
generosity and gifts of her time, talent, and kind heart will be greatly missed; and
WHEREAS, while her medical career was remarkable, her family always came first.
She taught them to love, laugh, and pray every day, and to be thankful for their many
blessings. She also taught them about all things Louisiana, which was always in her heart.
She loved festivals and any excuse to wear a costume. She was a diehard LSU Tiger fan and
a lifelong ambassador for Mardi Gras, celebrating with king cakes and beads every year; and
WHEREAS, she was committed to leading a life of caring for others as evidenced
by the way she loved and cared for her family, friends, and patients; and
WHEREAS, she was accessible, funny, caring, determined, brilliant, selfless, and had
an impact on everyone she met. Lindley was the epitome of beauty, both inside and out. Her
laugh, like no other, came easily, and her joyfulness and spirit were infectious. To know
Lindley was to love her; and
WHEREAS, she was an extraordinary wife, mother, sister, aunt, cousin, medical
doctor, and friend who is survived by her loving husband, Frederick Drew Dodson, and her
adoring children, Shaw, Tucker, and Loretta; her parents Paul Holden and Katherine Shaw
Spaht; her brother, Paul Holden Spaht Jr. and his wife, Claire; her brother, William Carlos
Spaht and his wife, Julia; nieces, Eliza Spaht, Peyton Spaht, Cappa Spaht, and Virginia
Spaht; and nephew, Robert Holden Spaht. She is also survived by her aunt, Mary Jane Spaht
Gill; her uncle, Carlos Gustave Spaht II and his wife, Jan; her uncle, William Marshall
Shaw Jr.; cousins, John P. Everett, III, Mary Elizabeth Omeed, and Midgie Carolyn Spaht;
and friends truly beyond measure; and
WHEREAS, Lindley was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, William
Marshall Shaw and Jean Craighead Shaw, and paternal grandparents, Judge Carlos Gustav
Spaht and Loretta Andrus Spaht; and
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WHEREAS, the memory of Dr. Katherine Lindley Spaht Dodson will always remain
in the hearts of her family and friends, whose hearts are forever broken by her absence.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby extend its sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of
Dr. Katherine Lindley Spaht Dodson upon her untimely death.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
family of Dr. Katherine Lindley Spaht Dodson.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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