Robert Lee Dolton

Robert "Bob" Dolton was born on May 25, 1922 in Enid, Garfield County, Oklahoma, the second son of Halleck Edward Dolton and Rosetta Margaret Kornbaum. They had been married on March 11, 1918 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Their first child, his brother Delmer, was born on October 31, 1919 in Enid, Oklahoma. His sister Rosehal was born on July 14, 1924 in Enid, Oklahoma. In 1925, at 3 years of age, the family moved to Dallas, Texas and bought a home in the Knox-Henderson area of the city.

In 1929, at age 7 Bob entered the 1st grade at Ben Milam Elementary, located on the corner of Fitzhugh and McKinney in Dallas and attended through 7th grade. In 1934, at age 12, after completing catechism classes he was confirmed a member of First United Lutheran Church located at Cole Avenue and Armstrong in Dallas. Church activity there was a large part of his young life. On March 23, 1936, at age 13, the family mourned the death of his sister Rosehal, who died of complications resulting from a brain tumor. She was only 11 years old.

In the fall of 1936, at age 14, he began 8th grade at Dallas Technical High School. (Dallas high schools then consisted of 8th to 11th grades. There was no 12th grade until 1941 in Dallas). In the summer of 1938, when he was 16, he worked for his uncle Harry Kornbaum who had just started a travel agency in Oklahoma City. His job was to handle baggage for passengers on bus trips to Mexico City. On one of the trips he was stranded with the bus driver on the Pan American highway due to catastrophic flooding caused by a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. He assisted in ferrying hundreds of stranded motorists across washed out bridges.

In 1940, when he was 18, he graduated from Dallas Technical High School. Bob was voted best personality in his senior class. From 1940-1941 he attended North Texas Agricultural College (NTAC) in Arlington, Texas. (It was then a junior college campus of Texas A&M University. It is now UT-Arlington.). There he majored in Geology. In June-September of 1941 he worked in Mexia, Texas for the Silver Pine Oil Co. reopening old non producing oil wells. From December 1941-May 1942, he was employed by National Geophysical and worked as a draftsman in the office in Hobbs, New Mexico. They were searching for new oil reserves.

While in Hobbs he took flying lessons in the Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program and received a Private Pilots license. Shortly after his 20th birthday in May of 1942, Bob enlisted the U.S. Navy as an aviation cadet in the V5 program. He was sent to Navy Pre-flight school in Athens, Georgia for three months of training on the University of Georgia campus. Upon completion he was sent to the Naval Aviation Training Station in Grand Prairie, Texas for "primary" flight training in the "Yellow Peril" biplane.

In January of 1943 he reported to the Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi, Texas for the last leg of required training and in May of 1943 he graduated and received his "gold wings". He was then sent to Miami, Florida for advanced fighter pilot training. While there, he went to a serviceman's dance and met Jeanne Marie Girton, a graduate of the University of Miami.

In December of 1943, Bob was assigned to a small aircraft carrier, the USS Tripoli (CVE 64) in San Diego, California. The ship was sent through the Panama Canal to the Atlantic Ocean as one of five carriers known as "Submarine Killer Groups". Their given task was to open the sea lanes and make it safe for American shipping. One year later his ship and squadron were transferred back to the Pacific Ocean. They passed through the Panama Canal on Christmas Day, 1944 enroute to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

He was transferred to the USS Wasp, an Essex Class Carrier in early 1945. Air Group 86 was also assigned to the Wasp and he was the Landing Signal Officer for that Group, a responsibility only given to the best pilots. Air Group 86 served on the Wasp until Japan surrendered in August of 1945. They were safely offshore when the Atomic bombs were dropped and they stayed to help find POW camps located on the island of Japan, and to liberate any American soldiers still there.

On October 25, 1945 he and our mother Jeanne Marie Girton were married at Elm Park Methodist Church in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Shortly after that he was assigned to the Navy Photographic School in Pensacola, Florida and they moved there to live. In June of 1946 he was sent to serve as Photographic Officer of the Alameda Naval Air Station in California. Bob and Jeanne lived there until June of 1947 when he was discharged from WWII.

They then moved to Dallas, Texas and bought their first home in the Love Field area of Dallas. From 1947-1950 Bob worked in various interesting jobs. He was a salesman for Southwest Sound Films, he sold Diamond Craft Cookware, and ran a photography business out of his garage. He also attended night classes at SMU and changed his major to Business. It was during this time period that they started attending First Methodist Church, located at Ross and Harwood Streets in downtown Dallas, and would be active members there for the next 15 years. On January 7, 1949 their first child Christopher Howard was born at Baylor hospital in Dallas.

In June of 1950 Bob was recalled as a Navy Pilot to serve in the Korean conflict for two years. He served on the carrier USS Biroko on submarine patrol in the China Sea tracking Russian submarines. By 1952 he was serving as Commanding Officer of a Helicopter Unit on board the Battleship USS Iowa, on duty in North Korean waters, and was the chief pilot for Vice Admiral J.J. Clark. In July of 1952, he and his machine gunner received the Distinguished Flying Cross for their helicopter rescue of Lt. Red Riedl of Boone, Iowa who was shot down over North Korea while flying an F4U fighter. Lt. Riedl’s squadron was flying from the Aircraft Carrier USS Princeton to bomb bridges spanning the Yalu River, which divides Mainland China and North Korea. The daring helicopter rescue was the first ever for a Navy helicopter during a military battle under enemy fire and was later the basis for the movie “The Bridges at Toko-Ri” starring Mickey Rooney, William Holden, Grace Kelly, and Fredric March.

In August of 1952 Bob was discharged from active Naval duty, and returned to Dallas to once again be with his family. As a Reservist he rejoined with his fighter Squadron at the Dallas Naval Air Station and was asked to organize a new Helicopter Squadron, the first in Dallas. He become the first Commanding Officer for the unit. (HU-701). They were equipped with the new twin rotor "Piasakie" Helicopters.

In the Fall of 1952 he started work as a Sales Engineer for Air Conditioning design and sales with Frymire Engineering Co. in Dallas, Texas. On February 19, 1954, Larry Robert, a second son was born at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. In 1956, the family moved to a house in the White Rock area of Dallas. On February 28, 1957 a third son, Jeffery Lynn was born at Baylor hospital in Dallas. In 1958 Bob began work as a Sales Engineer for M.B. Kiser Engineering in Dallas. In the Summer of 1961 the family moved to a house in the Forest Hills section of Dallas.

It was during this time (late 1950's to early 1960's) that he was also very active as "boys work chairman" for the Optimist Club of Dallas. He organized a "fishing club" for young boys where they met at White Rock Lake and did casting and other fun things around the water. He also started up a "Radio club" for young boys and girls of High School age. They met in the old swimming beach house on White Rock Lake. He was the first to petition the city to let them use the facility for something productive. In 1963 he became City director for the annual Soap Box Derby for the Optimist Club in Dallas, and organized a group of volunteers to provide the Buckner Orphans Home with the tools and assistance for their participants. Later, he and his family were awarded an all expense paid trip to national finals of Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio.

Bob and his family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in June of 1963 and began attending services at the old Dallas Third Ward building located near White Rock Lake. His membership in the Church would provide a spiritual anchor for the rest of his life and lead to many new friendships and opportunities to serve. Some of the capacities in which he served in the Church included being a Youth Leader, Sunday School President, Stake High Councilor, and a Bishop's counselor. He was also a member of the Dallas Texas Temple dedication committee, and later one of the first ordinance workers in this Temple with his wife Jeanne.

By 1964 he had left M.B. Kiser Engineering to explore other opportunities in the Air Conditioning field. In 1965 he formed Bob Dolton Heating and Air Conditioning Co. to sell and service central air conditioning systems. His first shop was located on Garland Road in Dallas and as he grew the business he moved to progressively larger locations in the same general area. In the summer of 1970 Bob moved his family to a house located in the Casa Linda area of Dallas. On March 2, 1973 his mother Rosetta died in Dallas at the age of 78.

In 1977 he purchased 20 acres of property in Sunnyvale, Texas which included a barn and pasture for horses. In January of 1978 he suffered a heart attack while on a job site, and after a short convalescence was back at work. In 1981 he sold Bob Dolton Heating and Air Conditioning Co. and started Big D Quickprint on Garland Rd. in Dallas with his sons Larry and Jeff. He retired in 1987 when he had to have triple bypass heart surgery at age 65. While recovering, his father Halleck Dolton died on June 7, 1987 at the age of 94. In "retirement" Bob started and ran several types of businesses, including Insurance sales, Import Export, and private mortgage brokering.

On December 14, 1998 his 17 year old granddaughter Christy Jean Dolton died from injuries sustained in an auto accident. In March of 2003, at the age of 80, he required a second triple bypass surgery. In 2006 Bob and his wife moved from their house in the Casa Linda area of Dallas to a senior retirement center in Plano, Texas. On Christmas Day of 2007 his brother Delmer died at age 88. Due to declining health Bob and Jeanne moved back to Dallas in March of 2008 to reside in an assisted living apartment closer to family. On October 11, 2008 his wife of 63 years, Jeanne Marie died. She was 88. The next 2 years were full of health challenges for Bob, but in spite of that he was able to spend time with friends and family and was able to share his love and concern for them.

He died peacefully in his apartment at the Emeritus at Lakeland Hills Retirement home on Saturday, November 20, 2010 in Dallas, Texas at the age of 88. He was preceded in death by his wife Jeanne, his parents, brother Delmer, sister Rosehal, and granddaughter Christy. Survived by sons Chris (wife Vicki), Larry (wife Mary), and Jeff. Grandchildren: Aaron, Adam, Amy, Blake, Marc, Penni, and Jeremy. Great Grandchildren: Ryann, Mason, Ashlyn, Connor, Cole, Brooklyn, Preston, Fisher, and Aedan.

Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, November 27, 2010 at Sparkman/Crane Funeral Home, 10501 Garland Road, Dallas, Texas 75218 with Family Visitation one (1) hour before services.

Interment Hillcrest Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas.