Obituary of Rodger T. Dombrow

Dr. Rodger T. Dombrow, 94 of Lansdale formerly of Lafayette Hill, passed away on February 2, 2016 peacefully and in the company of his children. . Dr. Dombrow was born in Freedom, NY in July 1921, graduated from Central High and earned three degrees from Temple University, including his EdD in education in 1960. His career in education stretched over more than three decades and included being the first principal of Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, Chairman of the Education Department at what is now Arcadia University and Superintendent of Upper Moreland School District. In addition to being a passionate educator, Dr. Dombrow was a dedicated sailor, serving in the Navy during WWII as the Commanding Officer of the USS Seagull, a minesweeper based in the North Atlantic and South Pacific, a tour that earned him a letter of commendation from the Secretary of the Navy. He served in Korea as well, as an Operations Officer at the U.S. Naval Center in Bainbridge, Maryland, where he established and scheduled school for 25,000 recruits and 800 instructors, earning a letter of commendation from the Lt. Commander of the US Naval Reserve. Dr. Dombrow was at the forefront of the digital revolution, participating in an NBC series in 1964 called "Man's Newest Servant, The Electronic Computer," which accurately predicted about 20 percent of the computer developments in medicine, government, science, communications, business and education that have come to pass over the last 30 years. The same year he presented a faculty lecture at Beaver College in cooperation with IBM, General Electric, Univac, Ampex and Bell Telephone on "Electronics and the Schools of the Future." From 1980-1982 Dr. Dombrow served as the Superintendent for Eastern Montgomery County Vocational/Technical School, and in 1983, he was invited to apply for the position of Commissioner of Basic Education for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He has served on the Whitemarsh Township School Board, the Plymouth Whitemarsh Joint School Board and is a past President of both the Montgomery County Principals Association and the Montgomery County Education Association. After retiring from education, Dr. Dombrow spent 15 years as a consultant at Lincoln Investment Planning, assisting teachers and other educators with their retirement plans. In addition, he has consulted widely in his fields of expertise, including on computer management of school construction for Abington and Upper Merion schools; on education administration for the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, NJ; on the application of electronics to education for General Electric, IBM and Bell Telephone; and on Managing the Building Program for the Colleges of Pennsylvania for the PA State Legislature's Appropriations Committee. Rodger is survived by his daughters, B. Carryl Laprairie and Joan E. Engel; his three grand-children, Stacey, Paul, and Mickey; and 10 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife, R. Caroline, and his son-in-law, Rogers LaPrairie . Memorial services and internment will be private. Memorial donations may be made to deserving students graduating from the school he helped found via the Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School Scholarship fund electronically at: Http://www.colonialsd.org/support-colonial/pwhs-scholarship-fund or by mail to PWHS Scholarship Fund, Attn: Bernie Biasi, 201 E. Germantown Ave., Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462. Funeral arrangements are by the Lownes Family Funeral Home of Lafayette Hill,Pa.