Obituary of Richard Warrington Dorst

Richard Warrington Dorst passed away peacefully at home in Menlo Park on June 10, 2014 after a brief illness. He was surrounded by his family and pastor. He was born on October 25, 1925 in San Francisco to Catherine Woolsey and James Archer Dorst, the youngest of three boys. A fourth-generation Californian, Dick grew up in a military family that settled in Berkeley, California. He graduated UC Berkeley where he played tennis and captained the wartime rugby team. Dick served in the Navy in the Pacific in WWII, ironic, in that both his father and grandfather were army lifers and West Point grads. After the war, he attended Harvard Business School. When he returned to the Bay Area, he met and married the love of his life, Ann Christiansen of Burlingame. Dick went on to become President and founder of the Dorsett Boat Company. He was a member of the Young President's Organization and The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus. After retiring from the boat business, he kept busy with a variety of community, business, church, and social activities. He spent over 20 years on the Sequoia Union High School district board of trustees. Dick also served as an elder of the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church where he taught the Bethel Bible Study series and the Christian History of the Constitution. He was passionate about his last company, Aquaculture, and its encapsulated mussel powder product from New Zealand, Neptone. Dick was a lifelong tennis player and was ranked in senior singles and doubles. His greatest love was visiting his grand-children and great-grandchildren in Portland, Oregon, and watching his six local granddaughters play high school and collegiate water polo. Dick was preceded in death by his two brothers, James and Joseph. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Ann; son, Jim (Amy Christensen) and their children Marian, Lauren and William; son, Chris (Marybeth) and their daughters Lindsay, Rebecca and Emily; his daughter, Jane (Peter Clark) and their daughters Zizi (Jeff Patmont), Christie, and KK; and his daughter-in-law, Suzanne Montgomery, and her children Katie (Peter Lamb) and their children Kelley and Juliet, and Charlie (Sheri). A family service was held on June 15. Formal services will be later this summer. Contributions in Dick's honor may be made to Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (Benevolence Fund/Richard Dorst), 950 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park, CA.




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