DAVID HARRIS DORSEY

One of the last of the Greatest Generation, David Harris Dorsey, died November 23, 2021. He was 100 years old. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home

in Ukiah, where he lived since 1967. In his last days Dave wanted to "go home" to the family farm where he was born outside Dayton, Oregon, the sixth of eight children born to Gladys Laverne Dorsey and George Leonard Dorsey. There he learned

y g y the value of hard work and family at an early age

during the Depression. His sister, Ruth, taught him to read the funny papers before first grade and he was an avid reader the rest of his life. Dave skipped the second grade in the one-room primary school he attended through eighth grade, equipped with a wood stove for heat and outhouses for the boys and for the girls.

Three years after he graduated from Dayton High School, where he was a three-sport athlete, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Dave enlisted in the US Army Air Corps where he earned his pilot’s

wings. After extensive training to fly at high altitude he flew 87 missions "over the Hump," a perilous route over the Himalaya Mountains from India to China. His mission was to fly C-46s and C-47s to deliver guns, ammunition, barrels of gasoline, soldiers and supplies to fight the second front against

over one million Japanese soldiers in China. Approximately one-third of the air crews assigned to

the Air Transport Command mission in Chinaburma-india (CBI) died in the effort, mostly from crashing heavily loaded planes on take-off or crashing into the tallest mountain range in the world. Captain Dorsey was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal, the Bronze star and a Presidential Unit Citation from Franklin

D. Roosevelt for his service "flying at night as well as by day over dangerous and difficult air routes at high altitudes over impassable mountainous terrain characterized by extremely treacherous weather where enemy interception and attack was probable and expected."

After the war Dave went to college on the GI Bill and earned degrees from Oregon State College and the University of Oregon. In 1950 Dave moved to Mendocino County where he operated his own

business, D.H. Dorsey Logging Co. in Anderson Valley. In 1966 he was hired to be an appraiser for the Mendocino County Assessor’s office, specializing in agricultural properties and vineyards. He retired from the county at age 65 in 1986 but continued working as a private appraiser for another 10 years.

In 1953 he married Eleanor Bryant and they raised two children, David A. Dorsey of Beaverton, Oregon and Lois Pitman of Redwood Valley. In addition to his children, Dave is survived by their spouses Karen Dorsey and Jim Pitman, and by two grandchildren, Sarah Parsons and her husband Charles Parsons and their children Charlie Parsons and Levi Parsons of Hillsboro, Oregon and Rebecca Dorsey and her son Reuben Sok of Knoxville, y

Tennessee. Their nickname for him was "Grandpa the Great." Eleanor died in his arms at age 92.

Dave was a Scoutmaster for over 20 years, first for Troop 51 in Anderson Valley then for Troop 65 in Ukiah. He was honored with the Silver Beaver

Award by the Sonoma-mendocino Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The Silver Beaver is an award given to those who implement the Scouting program and perform community service through hard work, self-sacrifice, dedication, and many years of service. It is given to those who do not seek it.

Dave’s neighbor and good friend Jim Cahall went out of his way for more than three decades to help Dave and Eleanor. Thank you, Jim, for going above and beyond the call of duty.

There will be a gathering in early Spring 2022 for family, friends and colleagues to celebrate Dave’s life. His ashes will be spread at the family farm, on a bluff overlooking the Willamette River near Dayton, Oregon.