Dolores attended elementary school, high school, and college in Chicago, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1946 from Roosevelt University. It was during her high school years that Dolores met David Rodgers and converted to Catholicism.

In 1947 Dolores married David and shortly thereafter they moved to Los Angeles and started their family.

In 1951 Dolores started teaching. While teaching and raising a family she earned an additional teaching credential and an administrative credential from the University of Southern California (USC). In 1967 she received a Master of Science in Education from USC. After thirty-five years of teaching and working in the personnel division of Los Angeles Unified School District, Dolores retired in 1986.

In 1959 Dolores and David moved their family to the Altadena/Pasadena area. They joined Sacred Heart church. Under Monsignors Jarlath Cunnane and Jerome Schmit, Dolores was a volunteer on the Finance Committee and in the church pantry. She also helped with many of the fund raising activities at Sacred Heart. Dolores served as an officer for the California Credit Union (formerly Los Angeles Teachers Credit Union) for seventeen years as a member of the Supervisory Committee and as a member of the Board of Directors.

Dolores leaves four sons and daughters-in-law, David and Dorothy, Anthony and Deborah, Darryl and Avis, and Dale and Theresa; her brother Monte Posey; fifteen grandchildren; eighteen great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law; a host of nieces and nephews and many friends.