David Stuart Dodge
David Stuart Dodge passed away in Princeton NJ, on January 20, 2009. He was 86. The son of American educators, Dodge was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. He attended the American Community School in Beirut and Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts before entering Princeton University where he earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees. During the Second World War, Dodge served in the US Army, rising to the rank of Captain. After the war, he joined Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Saudi Arabia. He married his wife of 49 years, the former Doris Westfall, in Chicago before returning to Beirut in 1952. Doris Dodge passed away in 2000. In Lebanon, David Dodge was Vice President of Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company, an ARAMCO subsidiary. He retired from earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees. During the Second World War, Dodge served in the US Army, rising to the rank of Captain. After the war, he joined Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) in Saudi Arabia. He married his wife of 49 years, the former Doris Westfall, in Chicago before returning to Beirut in 1952. Doris Dodge passed away in 2000. In Lebanon, David Dodge was Vice President of Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company, an ARAMCO subsidiary. He retired from Tapline in 1977 and served as President of the Near East Foundation in New York City for several years. He returned to Beirut in 1980 to join the American University of Beirut, the institution that was founded by his great-grandfather in 1863. Dodge was Acting President of AUB when he was abducted in Beirut in 1982. He was released by his kidnappers one year later. He returned to the United States and served briefly as Recording Secretary of Princeton University before retiring. For many years, Dodge was a Director of the Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation in New York. He was a trustee emeritus of the American University of Beirut and the Near East Foundation and served on the boards of Princeton-Blairstown Camp, the Princeton Family YMCA and Princeton-in-Asia. He volunteered his time at Princeton Recording for the Blind and Autistic, the Princeton Symphony, the Princeton Medical Center and other organizations. David Dodge will be remembered by his friends and family as a loving family man, a concerned expert on the Middle East, an avid tennis player and a life-long hiker who climbed the Matterhorn, Mount Kilimanjaro and spent his seventieth birthday trekking in the Himalayas. He is survived by his wife, the former Margaret White, of Princeton, his sister, Grace Dodge Guthrie of Falls Church VA, his four children - Nina Dodge of Washington DC, Bayard Dodge of Weston CT, Melissa Dodge Rutherford of Pittsburgh PA and Simon Dodge of Washington DC - and by his grandchildren Bayard and Andrew Dodge and Sarah and Bill Rutherford. A Memorial Service will be held at the Princeton University Chapel in Princeton NJ at 11am on Saturday, January 31, 2009.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American University of Beirut in David Dodge's memory.