Alvin Eugene Dorman, 88, Sunnyside Retirement Community, Harrisonburg, Va. passed away Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013 at Rockingham Memorial Hospital.

He was born Aug. 15, 1924 in Chicago, Ill., a son of the late Alvin Alfred and Ruth (Pate) Dorman.     
Mr. Dorman was a member of the Community Church at Tellico Village, Loudon, prior to relocating to Sunnyside. 

Mr. Dorman served 32 years in the U.S. Navy, spanning three wars and earned multiple decorations and awards, and retired as a captain in 1974. 

After enlisting in the Navy during World War II, he was chosen to join the Navy Pilot Training Program.  During his career as a Navy pilot, he flew torpedo bombers during the Korean War, then chose to be one of the very first Navy helicopter pilots. 

He was a member of HS-1, the squadron leader of HS-9, and also served as the executive officer of the USS Essex, an aircraft carrier based out of Quonset Point, R.I. 

After serving in the CNO NAVAIR office in the Pentagon, he and his wife retired first to Winter Spring, Fla. and Loudon before moving to Harrisonburg, Va.

Mr. Dorman enjoyed many hobbies, including being an amateur golfer with a single digit handicap and serving as golf chairman at several country clubs. 

During his retirement years, he loved devoting his time to multiple charities and civic activities, was a talented woodworker and gardener, and doted on his grandchildren and his beloved wife.

Mr. Dorman is survived by his wife of 67 years, Doris Jean (Phillips) Dorman also of Sunnyside Retirement Community; two sons, Michael Eugene Dorman of Baltimore, Md. and David Scott Dorman of Sandwich, Mass.; two daughters Pamela Anne Wright of Woodstock, Va., and Susan Diane Sitler of Summerville, S.C.; 20 twenty grandchildren and two great-grandchildren also survive. 

He was preceded in death by two daughters, Linda Sue Dorman and Sharon Lee Lee as well as a brother, Charles Dorman.

A memorial service will be conducted in Sunnyside's Meredith Chapel, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, Grand Central Station, P.O. Box 4777, New York, N.Y. 10163. 
 
Online condolences may be sent to the family at  www.kygers.com