Born on January 28, 1918, in Portland, he prepared for college at Portland High School and attended Portland Junior College for a year before transferring to Bowdoin, where he became a member of Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Following his graduation in 1941, he entered Columbia University of Dental and Oral Surgery in New York City, from which he graduated as a dentist in 1944. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Navy from 1943 to 1945 as a lieutenant junior grade. During the Korean conflict, he was recalled to active duty in the Navy and was stationed at Presque Isle Air Force Base for 17 months in 1953 and 1954. He practiced dentistry in Portland and South Portland for many years, and was the dentist for the Maine School for the Deaf. He was a member of the Maine Dental Association, the Masons, and the Portland Country Club, and was a lifetime member of the American Dental Association. Surviving are his wife, Jean Logan Dorsey, whom he married in 1944; a daughter, Bonnie- Jean Dorsey of Scarborough; four sons, Dr. John H. Dorsey, Jr., of Cape Elizabeth, George Dorsey of Freeport, Thomas Dorsey of Highland Lake, and Jay Dorsey of Westbrook; nine grandchildren; and seven great- grandchildren.