Donald Davidson Dodge Jr.

In the evening of October 17th, 2012, Donald Davidson (Dave) Dodge, Jr. died at home, four months after the passing of his wife Ruth. He is survived by their children Diana, Sallie, and Donald, six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, his brother Charles W.H. Dodge of Gorham, Maine, and numerous nieces, nephews and their families. His sisters Cornelia Fraley of Paoli, PA, and Esther Vetterlein of Lake Oswego, OR, predeceased him. Born in Hollyport, England on October 7, 1923, to Donald Davidson Dodge and Gertrude Henry Dodge of Philadelphia, he attended St. Paul's School and earned a geology degree from Princeton University. In service with the ski troops of the Tenth Mountain Division, he was wounded in Italy on Mt. Belvedere in February, 1945. Dave and Ruth were married on July 6th, 1946, and lived in Wichita while he worked as a geologist for Texaco. In January 1956 they moved to Denver, and Dave established the Carver-Dodge Oil Company with Douglas Carver of Woodside, CA. Ten years later, they joined with Donald Todd and the Independent Indonesian American Petroleum Company to pursue offshore development in the Java Sea, signing the world's first Production-Sharing Agreement. In 1970, Carver-Dodge was acquired by Reading & Bates Offshore Drilling Company, and Dave joined the board of directors. Dave and Douglas also partnered with William Barksdale and Reuben Hills III in natural gas production out of leaseholds in northeastern Colorado, from 1976 until they sold their operations in 2009. Dave and Ruthie moved to Bozeman in 1984 for proximity to what they valued most -- the beauty of land and wildlife, the conservation of which they generously supported. Despite success in his chosen profession, Dave will no doubt be best remembered for his alternative career as a (self-described) 'recreationist.' He lived for that slot of steep-and-deep fresh powder, the hatch on a clear stream, a flush of game birds with a setter on point, and the light coming to the hills in the morning. Many, many thanks to Cottonwood Care Management, and Hospice of Southwest Montana.