John R. Dolge's Obituary
John R. Dolge was born on December 8th 1924. His parents were John (Hans) and Mary Dolge, immigrants from Germany and Austria, respectively. He was an only child.
He was raised in Tacoma and attended Visitation, Gray, Lincoln High School and the College of Puget Sound. In between Lincoln and CPS, he served in the U.S. Army during WWII in the Southern Philippines. After the war, John went to work with his dad at the business he started in 1922. They made and installed convertible tops for cars, along with car interiors and automobile glass. In the rear of their building was a working blacksmith shop. On December 6th 1947 Dorothy Strand accepted his hand in marriage at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Tacoma. John was a member of the Tacoma Elks Club, Fircrest Golf Club, a bridge club that is probably still playing somewhere up there, and he also loved to play tennis, competitive bowling, and taking the family snow skiing. Through all of this he developed many special friendships, too many to list here. John's favorite music was swing. John was honest. He was social, some say dapper. He was dedicated, but most important to him was his marriage and his three sons. Our dad slipped away peacefully on November 7th 2024, surrounded by his surviving two sons and their wives. Also, there was Kim, RN Hospice. She provided strength, comfort and guidance, not only to our dad, but to us as well. For all she did, we give her special thanks. Dad left us with a lot of warm memories. We truly miss him.
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