Margaret Dobson - Softball

Margaret Dobson earned a spot in Oregon’s sports heritage as an elite-level softball player, an administrator at Portland State and even played a role in the development of the Special Olympics.

Dobson joined the Erv Lind Florists team as a teenager and, at age 18, finished the 1950 national tournament with a record .615 batting average. That year she enrolled at Portland’s Vanport College. The college had no softball team, but she earned a letter playing for the baseball team, a feat that received mention in Time magazine.

After earning a degree from the University of Oregon in physical education, she joined the faculty at Portland State in 1955.

After retiring from softball in 1959, Dobson turned toward administration and physical education for disabled children. That effort, aided by numerous other like-minded individuals, including Eunice Kennedy Shriver, helped foster the creation of the Special Olympics.

Dobson co-authored the book “Softball for Girls” with University of Oregon coach Becky Sisley in 1971. She retired from Portland State as executive vice president in 1990.

Dobson was inducted into the ASA Hall of Fame in 1964 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1984.