A woman named Sonora Louise Smart Dodd from Spokane, Washington, was the eldest of six children raised by their father, William Jackson Smart, after the death of her mother in their early childhood. She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. She wanted his to know how special he was to her. while listening to a Mother's Day sermon, in 1909, she determined there should also be a day to honor fathers.Her father was born in June, so she chose that month to get that new holoday celebrated.Sonora gained local support and made her dream a reality, one year later, within her own city of Spokane, Washington. Sonora married John Bruce Dodd. She died March 22, 1978, several years after Father's Day became a permanent national observance.