William (“Bill”) Hatsing Dobson, Jr.
Colonel, United States Air Force Reserves (Retired)
January 20, 1947 – April 22, 2026

Billy. Bill. Colonel Bill. Grampa Bill. Dobson. Mr. Bill.

Bill was born in Meriden, Connecticut, on January 20, 1947 to William Hatsing Dobson and Eleanore Rita (Cook) Dobson. He was born at the Meriden Hospital in a snowstorm, 2 months early. Not entirely a surprise as he was always an impatient man.

He attended Francis T. Maloney High School in Meriden, ran cross country and track and graduated at (or ”near”) the top of his class. As skiing was his passion his selection of colleges centered around campuses located near ski towns. Accepted to University of Connecticut and other colleges but flat-land schools far from the mountains were not considered. He was accepted at St. Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, just outside of Burlington, and began study in the fall and later joined the Ski Patrol, patrolling and maintaining safe slopes in New England such as Killington, Smugglers Notch and Stowe. He continued membership in the Ski Patrol long after retiring from that position as the patrol badge he was issued offered him lifetime free lift tickets in the mid-Atlantic area ski resorts.

After graduation in 1969, Bill entered the ROTC program and went on active duty with the U.S. Air Force stationed at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, serving as a Special Investigator and Counterintelligence Officer. He was released from active duty and was transferred to the U.S. Air Force Reserves in 1975. Reserve duty served him well and required work around the globe investigating crimes on American bases involving military service members. Duty locations also included Bolling Air Force Base and what is now Joint Base Andrews where he served as the Commandant of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Academy. He officially retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Colonel in 1999.

While residing in Coal Creek Canyon, Colorado, he opened his own information security company, Divide View Systems (“DVS”), which he continued to operate remotely until approximately 2015.

Bill officially relocated to Maryland in 1996 and moved to Lothian, Maryland, in 2001. While in Maryland he worked for several tech companies in the Washington D.C. area including TrustWave, Fortrex and First Data Corp. providing information security, data protection and addressing privacy concerns locally and around the world.

While the Air Force would not allow Bill to fly due to vision issues, he took up flying in 2000 and obtained his private pilot’s license (and later float plane license and training in DC-3 jets at what Kate referred to as his “summer camps”) and bought a Cessna. He retired from flying and sold the Cessna 172 in January of 2026, after flying numerous cross-country trips, both solo and with Kate and others, including flights over the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and to Nova Scotia and to the Bahamas.

Bill is survived by his wife, Kathleen (“Kate”) Devlin, of Lothian, his brother Robert Dobson (Doreen) of St. Augustine, Florida, his son Jonathan Dobson (Christy), son Matthew R. Dobson (Amanda Gonzalez), daughter Marissa M. Dobson, and grandchildren Brady Lyle Dobson, Lylah Christine Dobson, Hendrix Ace Valadez, Gisela Flor Valadez all of Colorado, and several nieces and nephews.

Bill’s other loves were the Denver Broncos and he was a proud (well… not always!) season ticketholder for over 20 years. Who else would have had his 2 stadium seats shipped to Maryland when Mile High Stadium was rebuilt?

A memorial gathering will be held on Friday, June 12, from 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. at Rausch Funeral Home, P.A., 8325 Mt. Harmony Lane, Owings, MD 20736.