Dolf Droge

August 30, 1928 – May 9, 2015

On the morning of Saturday May 9, 2015, Dolf Droge passed away peacefully in his sleep, of natural causes, while surrounded by his family at Liberty Shores Assisted Living in Poulsbo, WA. Dolf was 86 years old.

Dolf Martin Droge was born in Milan, Indiana in 1928, the second of three sons of John M. and Martha J. Neuhaus Droge who immigrated from Neuenwalde and Flögeln in northwestern Germany. In 1946 Dolf graduated from Milan High School and in 1950 from Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH, where he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and the Blue Key Society. Dolf’s Carnegie Endowment graduate fellowship with the Councils on World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University was interrupted by service with the US Air Force at Haneda AFB in Japan during the Korean War. He then joined the US Information Service (USIS) and served in the diplomatic corps in Thailand, Laos, Poland, and Vietnam before transferring to Washington, DC to work at the Voice of America, the ACTION agency, and the Agency for International Development. For several years Dolf was on loan to the National Security Council’s Vietnam Information Group under Presidents Johnson and Nixon an d later to the White House Office Public Liaison during the Reagan administration. Dolf applied history and cross-cultural understanding to foreign policy – with a good dose of humor and original music – on “The Hawk, the Dove, and the Owl” album recorded with Congressman Phil Crane. After retiring from federal service in 1983 Dolf began a second successful career as a public speaker for civic organizations, high schools, and colleges. He was a tireless supporter of military veterans and POW/MIA causes. A prolific songwriter and singer, Dolf entertained and educated innumerable crowds with his many original songs, several of which are in the Vietnam War Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture at the Library of Congress. Dolf’s kindness, intelligence, generous spirit, and joyous approach to life warmed many hearts and endeared him to his family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

Dolf’s first marriage to Frances J. Warner with whom he had two children ended in divorce in 1975. In 1997 he married Eileen Langohr and relocated to Bainbridge Island, WA where he was at various times a member of the Men’s Breakfast and the Port Madison Lutheran Church. In 2010 Dolf moved to Liberty Shores Assisted Living in Poulsbo, WA, where he enjoyed welcoming new friends every day. In 2014 his brother Arnie and sister-in-law Janet also moved to Liberty Shores, and Dolf enjoyed frequent visits with them and the extended family. The brothers remained close to the end, Dolf passing away just four days after his brother Arnie.

Dolf was preceded in death by his second wife, Eileen Langohr-Droge, his older brother John (Pat) Droge, and his younger brother Arnold Droge. He is survived by his first wife Frances J. Warner of Gardena, CA; sister-in-law Janet Page Droge of Bainbridge Island; son David F. (Sandra) Droge of Akron, OH; daughter Martha J. Droge of Bainbridge Island; step daughter Marlene LeMire of Bainbridge Island; step-son Marshall (Marsha) Langohr of Seattle, WA; nephews Mark Droge of Galveston, TX, Daniel (Doneva) Droge of Poulsbo, and Pete (Elaine) Droge of Vashon Island, WA; nieces Kathy (Don) Droge Barnhill of League City, TX, and Mary (Rob) Noxon Grehan of Novato, CA; grandchildren Jared Morgan, Megan Nicole, Marshall Jr., Harry, Martin David, Caeli Elizabeth, Brendan Patrick, Rory Brian, and Charlotte Victoria.

A funeral at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC will be scheduled in autumn 2015 (date TBD). Memorial contributions can be made to St Paul Lutheran Church 7124 North State Road 101, Milan, IN 47031 or American Legion Post #235, 318 East Indian Trail, Milan, IN 47031.

The Droge family is grateful to the capable and compassionate staff at Liberty Shores Assisted Living, Virginia Mason Medical Center, Franciscan Palliative Care, and Franciscan Hospice for making Dolf’s last years so comfortable and enjoyable.

Please sign the online Guest Book for the family at: www.cookfamilyfuneralhome.com.