Obituary of William R. Dopheide

William “Bill” Dopheide died on October 8th, 2021 at the age of 93 in his home after a period of decline with his loving wife Jane by his side. Bill grew up in Edison Park Chicago with his brother Richard, his parents and grandparents and other relatives nearby. He and his brother enjoyed playing with friends in vacant lots until called home when the streetlights went out. They also spent many hours with an electric train and track that their father assembled-beginning Bill’s lifelong interest in trains. Another interest for much of his life was music. Fifth grade trombone lessons lead to many hours playing in a dance band in high school and later in the Army Band Corp. His early academic interest was in journalism. At a young age, he and a friend wrote and delivered a neighborhood newsletter highlighting local happenings. He later wrote for school newsletters. After high school and not having the extraordinary farming skills of his brother Richard, Bill worked in a pinball factory and on a train from Chicago to Portland Oregon as a dishwasher. These jobs convinced him that he did indeed want a college education. Bill enlisted in the army at 19 and earned a slot in the Army Band Corp playing the trombone. He was immediately sent to Japan after basic training playing for military functions and concerts. Bill was the first member of his family to go to college, thanks to the GI Bill. Graduating from Western Michigan College in Kalamazoo with a major in “speech correction”. Bill met and married Marjorie Lou Symons (1952) while attending college. Bill earned his master’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology at Pennsylvania State University (1952). In 1956, Bill was a speech therapist in a local high school in Buffalo, New York. The family returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1957 where Bill taught at Western Michigan University and was a valued member of the Department of Speech Correction for 10 years. The family then moved to East Lansing, MI so that Bill could earn his doctorate at Michigan State University in 1968. His specialties were stuttering and aphasia. Bill, Marjorie and three children Kate, Marcia and Mark moved to Orono, Maine in 1968 where Bill started the Speech and Hearing program at the University of Maine in Orono. He and colleagues continued to build the program over the next 25 years. He was active in State and National organizations throughout his career becoming a Fellow in the American Speech and Hearing Association in 1979. He retired from the university in 1993 professor Emeritus. He has enjoyed continuing friendships with a number of former students and staff. Bill married Jane Dallinger in 1975. They lived in Winterport, Maine for 29 years raising their daughter Annamarie. During those years, Bill was active in the Monroe Lions club helping to organize the “Marsh Stream Stampede” road race on Memorial Day for several years. He also enjoyed the camaraderie of weekly very low stakes poker games with neighborhood friends for over 20 years. In 2008, Bill and Jane moved to Belfast, Maine. During their 46 years of marriage, they enjoyed many family gatherings at Kezar Lake in Lovell, Maine, and in San Francisco and Los Angeles California and Portland, Oregon. Recreation included model train building, skiing, camping adventures, gardening, and travels. Over the last 25 years, they have both been active members of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast with Bill working passionately for social justice issues. His first wife Marjorie, his brother Richard and grandson Bruce Clark predeceased Bill. He is survived by his wife Jane, daughter Kate Dopheide and husband Steve of Portland Oregon, daughter Marcia Clark and husband Tim Clark of Holden, Maine, daughter Annamarie Dopheide and husband Sean Lavery of Los Angeles CA and son Mark Dopheide and wife Lisa Buckley of Portland, Oregon: Three grandchildren, TJ Clark, Bryan Clark and Jack Lavery plus three Great grandchildren Miles Clark, Drake Clark and Mya Clark as well as nieces and nephews Gayle Urbanik and Kelly Dopheide of Kalamazoo, MI , Grant Dopheide of Hanover MD and Chris Dopheide of Lawton MI. A Celebration of Life will be held in the Spring. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Restorative Justice Project of Maine or Alzheimer’s research.