Volume 26/Number 25; April 29/May 6, 2013
Former chairman of Dodge-Regupol
Lancaster, Pa.—Arthur Byron Dodge, Jr., former president and chairman of the Dodge Cork Co. and later chairman of Dodge-Regupol, passed away April 18. He was 89.
Born June 13, 1923, Dodge was the son of Arthur B. Dodge and Marian Cochran Dodge. He attended East Junior High School (now Edward Hand) and one semester in high school at the newly opened J.P. McCaskey before his parents sent him off to boarding school at St. Andrews in Middletown, Del., where he flourished academically and as a member of the varsity rowing crew.
In 1942, Dodge enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private, foregoing officer’s training school. After boot camp, his company, the 88th Infantry (Blue Devils), traveled to North Africa. Dodge campaigned through North Africa and Sicily before landing on Anzio Beach in Italy, where he helped in leading the first American troops to enter Rome during the war and received a Papal audience.
During the 18-month Italian campaign, he received numerous decorations including two battlefield commissions to the rank of captain, two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, one with clusters and a Distinguished Service Medal. He was also nominated for the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor.
After the war, Dodge completed his education, graduating from Franklin and Marshall College in 1948, and immediately joined his father and oldest brother, Richard, beginning a more than 50-year career in the cork industry. An Army reservist, Dodge was called back to active duty during the Korean conflict. While stationed at the U.S. Army Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany, he met Margaretha Gerbert (Gretel). Dodge would say that courting Gerbert was his second and most difficult European campaign. They married in December 1954.
Dodge’s professional career was interlaced with a deep commitment to his family, his community and giving back. Among his many activities and passions, Dodge served as president of the Cork Institute of America and was an active member of the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM).
After joining the Dodge Cork Co. in 1948, Dodge eventually succeeded his father and brother, as president and chairman. In 1989, Dodge Cork Co. formed a joint venture to become Dodge-Regupol, which Arthur continued to lead as chairman until his retirement in 2007. Today, Dodge-Regupol is known as Ecore International, one of North America’s largest manufacturers of recycled rubber products. Today the company is run by his son, Arthur Dodge III.
Dodge is survived by his wife, Gretel; two sons, Arthur Dodge III and Andrew Dodge, along with their respective wives; and eight grandchildren: Marc, Natalie, Emilie, Alexandra, Sabrina, Hayden, Camilla and Sloane. Three brothers, Richard, William and James, preceded him in death.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks memorials be made in Dodge’s name to Saint James Episcopal Church, 119 North Duke Street, Lancaster, PA 17602 or Hospice & Community Care, P.O. Box 4125, Lancaster, PA 17604.