Frederick J. Dorsch Jr.

April 27, 1930 - April 1, 2017

Frederick John Dorsch, Jr., known as Fred, Dad, and Baba, died in the early morning hours of April 1, 2017, at the age of 86 years and 11 months. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Elinor Eilhardt Dorsch; three children, Jeffrey P. Dorsch, Janis Dorsch King, and Jennifer Dorsch Payne; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren, with a third on the way. He was born in The Bronx, New York, on April 27, 1930, and grew up in The Bronx and Queens, N.Y. Fred was a 1948 graduate of Fordham Preparatory School in The Bronx. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1948, training to become a radar technician, and later served as an infantryman during the Korean War, for which he received the Korean War Service Medal from the Republic of Korea. After the war, he returned home to Bayside, Queens, where he married Elinor Eilhardt and joined Local Union 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Fred’s father, Frederick J. Dorsch Sr., was an IBEW journeyman electrician. Fred rose through the ranks from apprentice electrician to journeyman, later becoming assistant foreman on electrical construction projects and being promoted to foreman. He joined L. K. Comstock, once one of the largest electrical contractors in the United States, and became assistant superintendent of the East Coast, specializing in mass transit work, and working on transit systems in Atlanta, Boston, and Washington, D.C. In 1976, he was promoted to senior vice president and superintendent of the West Coast at Comstock, relocating his family to the San Francisco Bay Area, where the company did work for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and San Francisco’s Municipal Railway. Residing in Walnut Creek and San Ramon, Fred was an avid golfer and a member of the Diablo Country Club for 30-plus years. While he lived with his family in Westbury, N.Y., he was for many years a volunteer firefighter with the Westbury Fire Department, and he served as a leader for Boy Scout Troop 291 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hicksville, N.Y. He was president of the Parent, Teacher’s, Friends Association at Trinity Lutheran School in Hicksville, and was a long-time supporter of Long Island Lutheran High School in Brookville, N.Y., which all three of his children attended. Fred was a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees, a member of the April Club, a man of faith, and a quick wit. He adored his grandchildren and his great-granddaughters. He loved ice cream and milkshakes, and he will be missed at the Miraku restaurant in Walnut Creek, where he hosted many family dinners and loved the “Dorsch special” prepared by the restaurant’s expert sushi chefs. He was an enthusiastic fan of the swimming and water polo teams at Santa Rosa Junior College and the University of the Pacific. Fred Dorsch was predeceased by his parents, Fred Dorsch Sr. and Lillian Hapke Dorsch; by his younger sister, Barbara Dorsch Kempster; and by his son-in-law, Douglas E. Payne. He is survived by another sister, Lillian Bockelken, and by several nieces and nephews. There will be a private family memorial service. In lieu of flowers, the Dorsch family requests providing donations to the American Heart Association and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.