Obituary of Joel Dobbin

NAUGATUCK-Joel Dobbin was a husband, father, grandfather, friend, adventurer, soldier, and a million other things to nearly as many people.To all and above all, however, he was always a powerful character who singularly sought to do both the right and (oftentimes more importantly) the interesting thing. Joel was born April 16, 1939, to Estelle and Nathaniel Dobbin in Brooklyn, NY, and died on April 17, 2009, one day past his 70th birthday. Joel is survived by his wife, Jean (Kosko) Dobbin, his children Jonathan, Alyse Connelly and her husband Sean Connelly, Josh and his wife Jolene, his grandchildren Ethan, Isabel, Justine, and Jacinda, his brother Peter and sister Marcia Wald. He is also survived by a seemingly impossible and massive crowd of friends to whom Joel was and will always remain family. Too numerous to give full account, but chief among them Peter Brazaitis and his lifelong friends, The Boys of Sheepshead Bay: Lawrence Sikora, Alfred Gartenlaub, Bobby Kontoff, Alan Breslaw, Bernie Glaser, Sam Livingston, and Roz Jospey. Joel attended Cornell University and obtained a degree in Entomology, which has little to do with the fact that he was variously a solider in Korea, a series of different types of salesman (among them bibles, pharmaceuticals, and wholesale cookies), a Wall Street broker, Reptile Keeper at the Bronx Zoo, a local TV and radio news anchor and talk show host, cab driver, Tarot card reader, hypnotist, photographer, ghost hunter,game show contestant (he won on JEOPARDY, pre-Alex-Trebek), journalist, cab driver, lecturer, dairy farmer, and Master Sergeant in the Air Force and Connecticut Air National Guard where he retired with honors and distinction 20 years of service. Later, he would work at the Beardsley Zoo and for the Connecticut Humane Society, but his proudest and most fulfilling job was that of a professional Grandpa, a career for which he printed and would enthusiastically hand out business cards. Joel Dobbin was also a natural-born teacher and mentor, giving freely of himself as a matter of course. Across the span of decades, he took a series of kids and young adults under his wing, giving them both guidance and encouragement, sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge of wildlife and natural science, and helping them learn about and marvel at the wonders the world has to offer. His family always understood that while he was theirs, they shared him with the world. In a world without dragons, Joel fought crocodiles and famously wore a necklace with the tooth of one that was lodged in his leg for a time. His final battle was a 9-month fight with lung cancer, which robbed him of his strength, vitality, health, appetite, and weight but never of his dignity, spirit, or humor. He went out as he so often lived, like a storybook King. He died without pain in his home, with dogs underfoot and surrounded by his wife, his three children, and a collection of photos and mementos of a life extraordinarily well lived. Joel chose for his remains to be cremated, so there will be no burial. The family has scheduled calling hours and a small memorial from 1 to 3 pm on Sunday, April 26, at the Alderson Funeral Home of Naugatuck, 201 Meadow Street (www.aldersonfuneralhomes.com or 203-723-2253.) In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Joel's name to The Connecticut Children's Place (formerly the State Receiving Home) at 36 Gardener St., East Windsor, CT 06088 where he played the role of Santa Claus for over 20 years in conjunction with the Bradley Air National Guard.