Joseph C. Dorsky, 88, of Indian River Shores in Vero Beach, passed away on Dec. 14, 2014.
He is survived by his beloved wife Maudine Trice Dorsky; daughters Linda Eubanks of Indian River Shores, and Janice Flewelling of Houston, Texas; three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Dorsky was born in Bridgeport, Conn., where he graduated in June 1943 from Bridgeport Central High School as President of his senior class. At Trinity College, Hartford Conn., he enlisted in the Naval Officer Training program. After a year he was accepted as a cadet at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. While at the Academy he was a member of the football and boxing teams.
Upon graduation in 1948, he was commissioned as an Ensign and served in the Coast Guard for 20 years. Early assignments included junior deck officer on North Atlantic Weather Patrols and Ice Patrols. He captained two Coast Guard Cutters operating in the Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic Ocean. Shore based tours took him back to the Academy as an Assistant Football Coach and Associate Professor of Mathematics, to Cleveland, Ohio as a Marine Inspector, and to Washington D.C. as a Personnel Officer. In 1963 he earned his Master’s Degree in Management at the USN Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.
On his retirement from the Coast Guard in 1968 with the rank of Commander, he commenced a new career as a City Manager. He served as Manager of Canton, Mass., and Harper Woods, Mich. He was the first City Manager in both Indian River Shores and Sewall’s Point, Fla. He retired from City Management in 2004 at Sewall’s Point.
From 1978 to 1982, Dorsky took a break from City Management as he and Maudine sailed the eastern seaboard and made trips to the Bahamas on their 40 foot ketch, Koinonia.
Dorsky was a lifelong member of International Rotary, serving as President of the Harper Woods Rotary Club, and as a member of Vero Beach Rotary Club. He was a Paul Harris Fellow. He served as an Elder in the Vero Beach Presbyterian Church and as Deacon at Vero Beach Community Church.
A memorial service will be held at the Community Church of Vero on Friday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m. Memorial contributions made be made to Community Church of Vero Beach, VNA Hospice House and the American Heart Association.
