Meet Allen Dobbins: US Navy Veteran, Educator, and Cellist
Allen Dobbins
Terwilliger Plaza Member
President, Terwilliger Plaza Foundation
I’d like to start off by recognizing you as a retired Navy officer and thank you for your service to our country. Can you tell me about your time in the Navy?
During college, I was in the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) and then served two years of active duty as a Navy officer. My active service began on July 1, 1956. I often say that is the day I became an “officer and a gentleman.” When I began my active service, I was assigned to the aircraft carrier, USS WASP, CVA-18, stationed in San Diego.
The carrier had been deployed to the Western Pacific at the time, and I flew to Manila, in the Philippines, to join the crew. Soon after we returned to San Diego, the USS WASP was reassigned, to be stationed in Boston. It was at that time, in December of 1956, that I married my wife, Mary Lou, and then I was deployed for the journey to Boston, which took the USS WASP all the way around the tip of South America up to Boston Harbor.
Can you tell me more about your time on the USS WASP?
I served mostly on the bridge, right by the captain. These ships are incredibly large, the length of two and a half football fields, with 3,000 people on board. It was like living in a medium-sized city. I began as an Ensign and later was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade. I have many memories.
One nightmare that I still remember happened at 2 am. I was Officer of the Deck. The Captain was asleep in his nearby stateroom. A command was sent out from the Admiral for a minor change in our formation: the four accompanying ships were to come closer to the carrier, from a mile apart to only three quarters of a mile. All the ship in front of us needed to do was slow down for a few minutes, thereby easily getting into its newly assigned position. But instead, the ship started to execute a 360 degree turn-around. Really bad idea. We called him on the radio, he kept on coming, and crossed so close to us, we couldn’t even see him under the carrier’s bow. He could have been split in two, killing no idea how many sailors. Would have been the worst peacetime accident in history. Our watch team was really relieved when the ship came into view again, undamaged!
How was it that you first began your Navy service on the west coast?
While I was born in Milwaukee, WI, my family moved to Berkley, CA when I was four years old. This is where I grew up, went to grade school, high school and then enrolled at Stanford University where I received an undergraduate degree in Psychology. My studies at Stanford happened alongside my time in the ROTC. After I retired from the Navy, I returned to the Bay Area and again enrolled at Stanford, where I received my graduate degree in American History in 1962. Soon after, I began teaching World and American History at San Carlos High School, located just south of San Francisco.
Then you went back to Boston, or more specially, Cambridge, MA?
Yes. In 1966 I returned to the east coast to study at Harvard, where I received my Doctorate in Education. It was during that time, with several of my classmates, we began to conceptualize an alternative, experimental high school. We envisioned this as a school within a school, getting students more actively involved in making the decisions about what they wanted to learn.
And, Portland, OR was the city of choice in which to launch this experimental school?
It was. Mary Lou and I moved to Portland in 1968, and along with several of my Harvard classmates who also relocated, worked to realize this vision of an experimental school. John Adams High School, was a brand new public high school, located at NE 39th Avenue, now Cesar Chavez Blvd, managed by the Portland Public Schools. My role was Assistant Principal in Charge of Curriculum, although I must say we were a little too far out ahead of the times. Our approach to curriculum and instruction, the overall governance structure giving voice to students and decision-making power, as well as expediting the integration of Portland High Schools was controversial and bit of a culture shock here in Portland. It didn’t sit very well, and we had many chaotic years. The school eventually closed in 1981.
It seems that the official start of the high school, predicted the ensuing chaos.
Yes, for sure. We started in the fall of 1969, which coincided with major race riots across the country. A few days into the new school year, we were hosting the traditional ceremony with the Daughters of the American Revolution, who, by tradition, when a new school opened, presented an American flag to be flown over the school. The auditorium was filled with students. On the stage was the principal, the school board, the Marine Marching Band, and the press was in attendance. When the representative from the Daughters of the American Revolution went to present the flag to a student we had chosen to represent the student body, they asked if she would accept the flag to be flown over the school. She turned to those students assembled and asked, should I accept this flag? In unison and quite loudly, they shouted, NO.
And from there you joined the administration of the Portland Public Schools?
After two years at Adams High School, I left to work directly within the Portland Public Schools. I was there for ten years, ultimately becoming the Curriculum Director for the district, managing what textbooks were used within the curriculum and overseeing the methodology for implementing textbook instruction. At that time, we served 82,000 students district-wide, K-12.
And then you launched your own educational consultancy.
Yes. In the early eighties, I started Avalon Associates, a K-12 educational consultancy with my partner Dr. Nick Cowell, also from Harvard. Our primary focus was to work with schools to secure state and federal grant funding to advance curriculum and instruction innovations and programs. The consultancy last 20 years.
From there, it seems – and I will use the term loosely, you retired?
Yes. I retired and turned my focus towards volunteerism and board service, working with many non-profit organizations including Pacific University, Friends of Chamber Music, and the Oregon Symphony. This is a driving force for me. Board service, engagement and philanthropy is extremely important to me. I consider it a responsibility, almost an obligation, to give back. My primary focus has been education, and the arts and culture – especially music.
Your reference to music seems to run very deep throughout your life. Can you talk about Cella?
I started playing the cello when I was eight years old and my cello, Cella, has a very special place in my life and is very, very dear to me. In sixth grade I was the principal cellist in the school’s orchestra. I played all throughout junior high school, into high school and at Stanford. When I was in the Navy, while stationed in Boston, I played in the MIT orchestra, although it was contingent on when the aircraft carrier was in port. I am also in a Trio here at Terwilliger – consisting of a violin, cello, and piano. We play every week in The Heights Cafe.
Can you talk about your decision to move to Terwilliger Plaza?
In 2009, It became clear as my wife’s dementia accelerated, and her vision deteriorated, that we needed help. What a gift that Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs), are to the greater American public. It was the best decision I ever made, and my three daughters are so happy I’m here. Soon after we moved in, Mary Lou’s health continued to fail and she transitioned to The Metcalf, which is a licensed residential care facility here at Terwilliger. I was able to visit with her every day. She passed ten years ago.
It seems that you are fully immersed in the Terwilliger community.
The community here is so engaged and supportive. The way it works with the floor meetings you get to know your neighbors, and many become your best friends. In a way, the floors become your neighborhood. I am also Chair of the Saturday Forum, which presents speakers on a broad range of issues and topics every Saturday morning. There are ten people on the committee who surface ideas from within the community, while also pulling from their own networks, which are incredibly wide and diverse. We typically have up to 50 people show up for the conversation in the auditorium, and it is also broadcast on Channel 981, Terwilliger’s internal broadcast channel, which is an amazing resource. I am also a member of the Spanish Club, and the Veteran’s Group, and was a former member of the Terwilliger Board of Trustees, which I served on for six years.
Was it your service on the Terwilliger Board, that led you to be a part of the Terwilliger Plaza Foundation?
I was drawn to the mission of the Foundation as it relates back to my values of giving back. For the past three years I have served as the President of the Foundation. I am humbled to support the mission of the Foundation to fund projects and facility improvements that enhance quality of life for all Members at Terwilliger Plaza, and also to support the Lesta Hoel Memorial Trust Fund so that no member has to leave the Plaza, due to financial hardship.
I am extremely proud of our work, knowing that the Members within Terwilliger play an active role through their contributions in support of the Terwilliger community. We hold regular meetings, actively fundraise through events such as the Annual Gala and a Fall Fundraising event. Just recently, the Foundation contributed over $100,000 for the remodel of the Garden Walk and helped purchase the rowing machine in the Wellness Center. We accomplish so much as a community, in support of each other and the place we call home.
I reference back to my comment about you saying that you’re “retired.” You seem quite busy and engaged.
Indeed, I am. That’s what makes Terwilliger so special. There is so much to do here. My platter is full, almost overflowing. I wouldn’t have it any other way.