DUMBLETON PETER H

2LT Peter H. Dumbleton was a potential VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 08/21/2010 at the age of 67.6 from Oral Cancer
Kitsap, WA
Flight Class 66-4
Date of Birth 01/19/1943
Served in the U.S. Army
This information was provided by SSN search Feb 2011

More detail on this person: Peter Henry Dumbleton died August 21, 2010 after a five-year battle with oral cancer. He lived a very full 67½ years around the world, and spent his final years on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he died peacefully and without pain at the Island Health and Rehabilitation Center. Pete was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee on January 19, 1943 to Edna and Harry Dumbleton. The family lived in Brooklyn, New York, then Leonia, New Jersey, and spent many happy summers in Ticonderoga, New York at the family cottage on Lake George. Graduating from Leonia High School, he attended Norwich University in Vermont from 1960 to 1964, where he earned a BS in Engineering Management. Following his graduation he joined the United States Army Signal Corps and spent time in Arizona, Alabama, Texas and Georgia before going to South Vietnam. After serving in Vietnam he returned to Atlanta, Georgia and met the woman he would marry. The young couple moved to Tampa, Florida where Pete took a job with GTE as a Telecom Engineer and Plans Analyst. On July 23, 1971 their son was born, and on August 20, 1973 their daughter was born. The family lived in Tampa and then in nearby Lutz until 1986. During that time Pete and his family enjoyed exploring Florida, camping, going out on their Boston Whaler, hiking portions of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia and returning to the cottage on Lake George during the summer. Pete also earned his BA in Accounting, from the University of South Florida, in 1979. In 1986 the family moved to Waldenbuch and then Vaihingen, Germany, near Stuttgart, where Pete worked at Patch Barracks as a civilian contractor with GTE at the Defense Communications Agency. Pete, with his family, spent five years exploring Germany and all of Europe, traveling extensively and skiing and hiking whenever possible. The family remained there until 1992, at which point the family returned to the house they had built in Lutz, Florida. In 1993 Pete retired early from GTE. From 1996 through 2005 Pete became a full-time RVer, traveling throughout the United States and Canada. The list he kept includes every state but Oklahoma, as well as most of the Canadian provinces and territories, missing only Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the Nunavut Territory. His list of the bodies of water he kayaked in includes 113 rivers, lakes, straits, springs, reservoirs, bays and oceans. He also listed the animals he saw, including caribou, moose, Dall Sheep, wolf, black bear, brown bear, porcupine, bald eagle, copperhead, mink, nighthawk, buffalo, badger, 'gator snapping turtle, marten, loon, muskrat, pronghorn, seal, sea otter, whale, fisher and elk. He traveled with a pet hedgehog for a year during this period, and kept a number of well-loved rats as traveling companions, his favorite of which was Ratatouille (well in advance of the movie). In 2005 Pete settled on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he had already been using his friend and Norwich roommate Bob Mack's house as a base of operations for several years for his trips through western Canada and Alaska. He moved into a comfortable two-bedroom condo where he endured radiation therapy and several operations attempting to beat repeated attacks by oral cancers. He spent the last two years of his life unable to speak or eat because of the damage from the cancer in his throat, but enjoyed writing messages to friends and strangers on the clipboard he carried with him everywhere and on the various online forums where he was an active member. In 2009 his daughter moved out to be with him for what turned out to be his final year. After a series of hospital visits and the fourth recurrence of his oral cancer, Pete finally succumbed, passing peacefully and quietly in his sleep. Pete is survived by his son, daughter, former-wife, sister, and cousin. Pete was predeceased by his parents Harry Dumbleton and Edna Gillen Dumbleton of Leonia, New York, who died in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and his brother William and wife Jeannie of Essex Junction, Vermont, who died May 26, 2007. Pete requested that his ashes be scattered at Lake George. A quote Pete particularly enjoyed: A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. -John A. Shedd, Salt From My Attic, 1928

Burial information: Ashes scattered Lake George, NY

This information was last updated 10/23/2017

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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024


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