Michael Dumas, DMD, PhD

September 3, 2020

Michael Stephen Dumas was born in Patras, Greece on September 14, 1933. After his father was killed in the Greek Civil War following World War 2, Michael came to the United States as a teenager and was adopted by the Dumas family in Pullman, Washington.

Michael excelled in academics and was granted a scholarship to Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts graduating in 1956. By 1957 he had received a degree in Oral Surgery from Tufts and joined the United States Air Force. He was first stationed in Washington State, then Fairbanks, Alaska where he completed his residency in Oral Surgery and left the Armed Services with the ranking of Major. Michael moved to California where he would spend the majority of his life and enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley to pursue a Ph.D. in Anatomy, graduating in 1964. Michael opened his private practice in San Francisco shortly after where he would work until his retirement in 2016.

Michael was an avid runner and started competing in marathons in the early 1980’s, qualifying for the Boston Marathon and competing several times in the prestigious race. Waking every day by 5am, he would train before work and often get a second run in during lunch or after work. It was this discipline that he attributed to helping him beat cancer by 1986. Michael’s illness was a traumatic life event that he considered to be a small bump in the road.

He was determined to get back quickly to the things he loved most in life- family, friends, and his work.

Of Michael’s many passions, food, wine, and travel were most important. He was an excellent cook and avid cookbook reader. He loved restaurants and dining out and his knowledge of California and French wines was well-known by all who knew him. He loved travelling to Europe with his family and considered it a home away from home. Michael was a longtime member of the Olympic Club, Lakeside, San Francisco and respected by all. He ate lunch there most days, hosting different colleagues from his work circle. Over time he developed a reputation as tirelessly generous and engaging, and he was a pillar of the San Francisco Dentistry community for 50 years.

Michael is survived by his loving wife of 22 years Susan (nee Ferguson), daughters Isabella and Alexandra and sons Michael Jr. and Peter and his wife Emily (nee Jocson) and his granddaughter Emily Dumas.