Eileen Loretta Dawson, age 81, of Forest Hill, MD, passed away on Thursday, December 15, 2022. She was born in Elmira, NY on February 1, 1941 to the late Brennan William Asplen and Eileen Loretta (Funk) Asplen and lived most of her life in Baltimore, MD.

Eileen was one of five children. She was a loving mother of four children and four grandchildren. She always had a passion for art and fashion. Eileen began designing clothes for her dolls at 6 yrs of age and at the age of 16 won first place for a state evening gown contest. She made and designed her own clothes while raising her four wonderful children. At the age of 77, she decided it was not too late to follow her life-long passion and began to create one-of-a-kind hats and fascinators for all occasions from tea parties to red carpet events. By the age of 79 she had held four runway fashion shows with her couture hat designs in Washington, DC and New York City. By Age 80, she had fallen in love with Richard N. Dawson and they shared a beautiful wedding day in summer of 2022 with family and friends.

Eileen is survived by her loving husband, Richard N. Dawson and her children and their spouses, David Cox, Michael Cox and wife Missie, Joan Cox and spouse Mare McCall, John Cox and wife Casey and her grandchildren, Michael, Blake, Addison and Alexis and by her Bleyer family stepchildren and grandchildren. In addition, she is survived by her siblings, Mary Jean Smith, Brennan Asplen, Jr. (and wife Beverly) and Joseph Asplen (and wife Mary). She is preceded in death by her loving brother, John Howard Asplen, Sr.

A celebration of life will be held at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at R.T. Foard Funeral Home, 111 South Queen Street, Rising Sun, MD 21911 where family and friends may begin visiting from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. Burial will follow at Brookview Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or online at www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html