Lasting Memories

Duncan C. Dobson
1947-July 17, 2008
Harbor Springs, Michigan

Duncan C. Dobson Jr., a serial entrepreneur and 27-year resident of Woodside, died July 17 of lung cancer at his home in Harbor Springs, Michigan. He was 61.

When he retired in 2007, Mr. Dobson left Woodside for Michigan with his wife, Lucy, to whom he had been married for 39 years.

Mr. Dobson's interests included technologies both high and low. His work in semiconductor materials and equipment development took him to Monsanto Co., Applied Materials, MEMC Electronic Materials, and Allied Signal, among others.

He founded Wafer Solutions and SiBond, and was vice president of sales and marketing at Integrated Materials Inc. of Sunnyvale. Mr. Dobson also founded Zoomers, a maker of equipment for competitive swimming, and David's Cookies of Northern California.

He attended elite schools, including St. Louis Country Day School and Salisbury School in Salisbury, Connecticut, from which he graduated. He had a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master's degree in business from Harvard College.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Dobson is survived by his sister, Sally Dobson Danforth, who is married to former Sen. John C. Danforth of Missouri; his son, Duncan C. Dobson III of San Francisco; and a daughter, Lindsey Dobson Madden of Lander, Wyoming.