Dave Dobos

/\ 661  Dave Dobos

Year in and out, Dave has done more for the success of this chapter than anyone else.  He's been a relentless rusher for MIT and LCA, especially LCA for 35 years.

The messages about him speak for themselves

Steve – We will be away that weekend – as we often are this time of year for our anniversary, but please convey my best wishes & congratulations to Dave Dobos & Jack Frailey.  I’m sorry we will miss this.  I knew Dave well.  Jack was my father’s (L294) roommate at one time, and my grandfather (L73) knew Dinsmore Ely.

Dave Wilson /\607

I met Dave when I was 14, and it was not because I was an altar boy. He rushed me for three years.  My father liked him because he told the truth, good or bad.

Barry McQuain

Steve - I can't make Founder's Day this year but I will pass on that I was recruited by Dave Milli, who was recruited by Barry McQuain (I think), who was recruited by Dobos, or something like that.  After being sucked into the Dave Dobos vortex, I hosted a pre-frosh party at my family farm in Ohio which, I believe, was attended by Steve McLaughlin and Tim Mattox. 

If Dobos is directly or indirectly associated with the recruitment of less than 100 LCAs, I'll be surprised.  Maybe Founder's Day should include a "guess how many LCA's DD is responsible for" contest.

Cheers in ZAX,

Andy Bennett, /\804

 I would like to add my voice in congratulating Dave Dobos on the honor that he is receiving.  Dave has had a profound influence on LCA through his highly engaged recruiting of a large number of us.  As a byproduct, Dave increased the number of Ohioians in the house and in the alumni ranks, which has had obvious derivative benefits.  I haven't seen Dave in a number of years, but will list a few, notable memories for me:

- Dave connecting me with McLaughlin when we were seniors in high school. 

- The stunning resemblance between Dave and renown '80's infomercial shyster Ed Beckley Jr.  If Coleman is in the room, have him do a couple of classic quotes from Ed, "Lots of money to be made in real estate." and "Watch what the poor people do and don't do it."

- Dave's unflinching support of all things Ohio.  He was way ahead of his time.  And yes, we still love Keith Byars after all these years.

- His desire to do the right thing.  He was elected to the Columbus school board, which in the grand scheme of thankless jobs, is at the low-end of the spectrum.  From a distance, it always seemed to me that he was trying to make things better for the students in the face of institutional incompetence.

I'll stop here.  Say hi to Dave for me and wish him well. 

- Tim  Mattox

Steve,

   … I was influenced by Dave Dobos to join LCA as we are both from Columbus, Ohio we talked a lot leading up to last September when I had to make my choice during rush.

 Sincerely,

Alex  /\1007

I'm a Dobos recruit. He showed up at a wrestling meet sometime shortly after early admission.  He hit it off well with my dad and figured out that I have Ohio roots.  If I remember correctly, he next visited my house on a weekend with Mark McQuain and Potash, being sure to hit on both the Ohio and wrestling angles.  They sold me (and apparently my parents) on me visiting the house on a spring weekend; I don't think that much of a pitch was needed.  It was all downhill from there.

 Jeff Lobo /\742

Dave visited me at my home in Onalaska, Wisconsin, over the summer
before my freshmen year at MIT.

As I recall, he logged an incredible
number of miles driving all over the midwest meeting with pledge
candidates like me that summer. The combination of my experience
staying at the house for my initial visit to MIT *and* Dave's visit
over the summer is why LCA was the first frat I visited and the only
one I seriously considered during rush week. To be honest, I never
thought I would pledge a fraternity because of the fact I was a
teetotaler. I knew the stereotype of wild frat parties and didn't see
myself in that picture. It was a good thing that LCA was not like
that. ;-)

Seriously, the thing that struck me as a first impression of LCA was
how accepting it was of diversity. Dave being firmly in the mix with
some of the more "traditional" house members of that era was a big
part of my first impression. If not for his involvement, I'm fairly
certain that I would not have pledged at LCA.

- Mike Van Riper /\707

Hey Steve,

… I met Dave through my interview and he came to several of my track meets at the end of my senior year, all the way on the other side of Columbus.  Met my parents, brother, even my high school girlfriend.  Greg met him at Rob McAndrew's house at a pre-MIT BBQ he had about a week before we all left.  Obviously a dedicated rusher through an through.

--Eric_Conner

Hi Steve,

I may not be able to make it to Founders Day, so if I can't, here's my Dobos story:

 Dave Dobos was instrumental not only in me choosing LCA, but, in fact, was the difference in my very matriculation to MIT.  He essentially plucked me from corn-fed obscurity in the middle of Ohio farmland, and single handedly guided me through the alien land of the MIT application process when everyone around me thought my intent was to go to a Michigan truck-driving school.

 Dave became my friend long before he knew whether MIT would let me in, coming to my football games, getting to know my family, and otherwise never letting me forget I was an island of special potential in a sea of proud, but limited cow-folk.  Once I received salvation in the form of a letter welcoming me to the class of '96, Dave immediately set in course the plan to get me to LCA.  He brokered my week long stay during spring break senior year, and, "miraculously", the brothers welcomed me immediately as one of their own.  Once I came to campus that first fall, I knew Dave's nefarious scheme to railroad my living situation was actually an incredibly wise and honorable man ensuring I had a family in Boston when I left my one in Ohio for the first and last time.

 The rest is history, but because a single man believed in a wide-eyed Ohio nobody I will forever know the life-changing power of a rare soul like Dave Dobos, who graciously dedicates so much of himself to help others realize their dreams. 

Congratulations, Dave, on your permanent ascension to the rafters of Lambda Zeta, and thank you, thank you! from the bottom of my hick heart.

In ZAX,

Kyle Moffitt, 907