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Dobbin, Robert F., Jr. March 29, 2024

Mass: 10:45 am, Monday, March 19, 2018 at St. Joseph’s Church, Bronxville

Robert (Rob) F. Dobbin, Jr., age 59, died March 5, 2018 in Oakland, CA, where he has lived for 30 or more years. He was the son of Jean M Harrington, deceased, and Robert F Dobbin, Sr. both of Bronxville, N.Y. He is survived by his sisters Kathleen M. Dobbin (Scott Parmelee) of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y.; Sarah D. Footh (James) of Bainbridge Island, Washington; Courtney A. Robin (Christopher) of Stowe, Vermont; and eight nieces and nephews. His brother William H. D. Dobbin predeceased him. He is also survived by his stepmother Rosemary Hardart Dobbin and six step siblings. Rob graduated from Bronxville High School in 1976; Fordham College in 1980, magna cum laude, elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received a PhD. from the University of California, Berkeley in Classical Studies. After completion of his studies, he was a professor of classics and history at several universities including University of Kentucky and Gonzaga University. Thereafter, he returned to Berkeley and founded Berkeley Hills Books, acting as publisher, author and editor. Berkeley Hills Books published the first English language biography of Thelonious Monk (translated from the German by Rob) and republished many books in the public domain, including by M. Gandhi. Rob devoted the rest of his life doing what he loved best: editing and translating classic literature for world renowned publishers, including Penguin Press and Oxford University Press. He was the translator and editor of Epictetus’s Discourses and Selected Writings for Penguin Classics and authored articles on Virgil, Plato and Pythagoras. Before his death, he was starting another volume on three scholar-poets from the Hellenistic period (323-31 BC). A Mass of Christian Burial for Rob will be held at St. Joseph’s R. C. Church Bronxville, N. Y. Monday, March 19 at 10:45 AM. A memorial service will be held in Berkeley at a time to be arranged. In lieu of flowers, donations in his name may be made to San Francisco Suicide Prevention, sfsuicide.org.

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