Bonnie Dodge earned a degree in music at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, in 1976, and went on to complete a master's degree in Developmental Reading at the University of Iowa in 1990. She taught 8th grade Language Arts for twenty years before retiring in 2013. She also taught private flute and piano lessons for forty years. In retirement Bonnie divides her time between genealogy research and volunteering at a local genealogy library, traveling, creating digital scrapbooks of her travels, playing in a steel drum band, serving on the board and performing in a local music club, and gardening. She lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with her husband.