Sydney R. Dobbs

Former FFH Fire Chief

Sydney R. Dobbs, 98, of Cushing, Maine, present holder of the Boston Post Cane and former Cushing town moderator, died June 17 of natural causes at Pond View Boarding Home in Cushing. Mr Dobbs and his wife Bettina were former longtime Newtown residents, having lived on Boulevard Lane Extension and raising their two children here before retiring to Maine.

Mr Dobbs was born in South Hadley Falls, Mass., to F. William Dobbs and Gertrude (Shaw) Dobbs on May 28, 1910.

He served in the Army during World War II from January 1941 to September 1945. He earned an associate degree in science from Western Connecticut State College in 1969. He met and married Bettina F. Sullivan, and the couple made their home in Newtown.

In February 1960 Mr Dobbs, who was by then serving as the fire chief at the Fairfield State Hospital and as PTA safety chairman, was appointed a member of the newly formed Advisory Committee for Civic Action. The committee included among its objectives the coordination of safety programs, encouragement of civic and legislative action, and the planning of the 1960s Governor’s Conference of Traffic Safety.

A year earlier Mr Dobbs represented the Patent Teacher Association of the Connecticut Board of Managers at the 14th annual Connecticut Safety Society conference at the University of Bridgeport. Mr Dobbs also served as state safety chairman of the Connecticut Parent-Teacher Association during the early 1960s.

Sydney and Bettina, a former teacher, retired to Cushing in 1974.

In Maine Mr Dobbs became active with the Pine Tree Parliamentarians, and in time was lay leader of Cushing Broad Cove Church. In 1978, reacting to the impending threat of a biased sex education curriculum in Maine schools, Sydney, Bettina, and Charlotte Iserbyt of Camden founded GEM – Guardians of Education in Maine — working to improve public, private, Christian, and home schools.

Mr Dobbs was a skier, sports fisherman, author, Army veteran, church deacon, and Connecticut State PTA safety chairman. In addition, he received a commendation from the governor for his outstanding service as a state fire chief.

In 1987, a Steve Heddericg photo taken in 1983 at Cushing’s annual town meeting won Parade magazine’s National Bicentennial Contest, “We, the People.” It showed resident June Champlin conferring with moderator Sydney Dobbs. That picture became part of a permanent exhibit to honor the bicentennial of the US Constitution. So well did this picture catch the spirit of a typical town meeting that it was used by Rockland, Maine-based newspaper The Courier-Gazette for years to head the various listed annual town meetings of Midcoast Maine.

At the time of his death Mr Dobbs was the holder of Cushing’s Boston Post Cane. In August 1909 The Boston Post newspaper sent nearly 700 gold-headed ebony canes to the board of selectmen in 700 towns in northern New England with the request that it be presented to the oldest male citizen of the town, to be used by him as long as he lives or moves from town. At his death the cane is to be handed down to the next oldest citizen in town. Cane possession was eventually opened to the oldest resident (male or female) in 1930, and Cushing is one of many towns that continues the honor.

Mr Dobbs is survived by his wife, Bettina, of Bartlett Woods in Rockland; his son Brian of Warren, Maine; daughter Judith and her husband, David Ruhm, of New Hartford, Conn.; nephews David Dobbs and family of Great Falls, Mont., and James Dobbs of Denver, Colo.; grandchildren Douglas and Cynthia Ruhm of Connecticut, Jason and his wife, Maria Dobbs, of Germantown, Wis., and Jennifer and her husband, Aaron Tidd, of Fredericksburg, Va.; and other family members by affection.

A memorial service with military honors was conducted by Larry Wheelis, former pastor, at Trinity Baptist Missionary Church in Thomaston, Maine, on Sunday, June 22. A reception followed on the premises.

Memorial donations may be made to the TBMC Memorial Fund, Trinity Baptist Missionary Church, PO Box 25, Thomaston ME 04861. Arrangements were handled by Hall & Bibber Funeral Home and Cremation Service Thomaston.

The Newtown Bee        July 18, 2008