David R. Dobkin ’75 died on April 3, 2022, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
(The following was provided by Legacy Remembers on August 31, 2023:)
David Ronald Dobkin died unexpectedly on April 3, 2022, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He was born on September 5, 1952, to Frances and Irving (Bunny) Dobkin. The third child, David was raised with his sisters Jane, Joan, and Jill in Highland Park, IL. He attended North Shore Congregation Israel where he was bar mitzvahed and was a founding member of Temple Har Shalom in Park City, Utah. David resided in Chicago, California, Connecticut, Maryland, Utah, and finally, Mexico, where he had retired.
Well-liked and social, David attended North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL, where he excelled in athletics, playing quarterback on the school football team. He graduated Summa cum laude from Knox College in Galesburg, IL, majoring in theater. David then received two master’s degrees: in systems engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago and in business administration from the University of Chicago.
David rose to leadership roles wherever he worked. He held executive positions at R.R. Donnelley and Sons, Ernst and Young, Caliber, Alphagraphics, Allen Communications, and at Kaon Interactive, amongst other companies. Throughout his career in sales, consulting, and management, he was valued for his skill at the highest levels.
Throughout his life, David enjoyed exploration. He loved to travel, meet new people, and pursue his hobbies. As a child, his curiosity led him to explore the wooded ravines of Highland Park, mechanical tinkering, and experimenting with fire. Later, he enjoyed riding his motorcycle, practicing Aikido and Zen meditation, playing the bass guitar, reading his favorite Russian authors, hiking in nature, storytelling, and writing. Most recently, he created colorful digital images he exhibited locally in Mexico.
He is survived by his three daughters, Rachel (from his first marriage to Mary Ann Esler), and Madison and Emma (from his second marriage to Andrea Mottola Dobkin), his sisters, Jane Jacobs (Warren Grimsley), Joan Dobkin (Ruud van Dijk), and Jill Dobkin (John Schneider), a granddaughter, two nephews, a niece, several cousins, and extended family.