Donald Dungan Dod, a great friend and supporter of PCDR, passed away in April. From 1964 through 1988, Don and Tudy Dod worked with volunteers in health, family planning, and environmental projects. Many, many of us were guests in their modest home near Los Minas, well fed, well cared for, and well guided in our work. 

Their life work was in social justice, development, and environmental advocacy—TulleLake, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Their discoveries in ornithology and orchids in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, their advocacy for conservation, and their ability to form key relationships with Tutumpotes, was of historic importance to the country’s family planning programs, environmental movement, reforestation, water conservation, and establishment of national parks

Californians, the Dods had moved to the DR in 1964 after 17 years at El Guacio, a development project in rural Puerto Rico. They soon found themselves in the middle of a civil war. Because of Don’s knowledge of Spanish and experience in Puerto Rico, he served as a liaison between the US military and community leaders for the distribution of food. Often chagrined at the pseudo democracy that followed, they nevertheless had significant success in moving their projects forward.

Don’s job in the Dominican Republic was to work with the Dominican Evangelical Church to forward their social involvement. Tudy’s work with family planning merged with his, and they both worked on teaching and involving people in family planning for all. Together with Domincan colleagues, they founded the Fundacion Dominicana pro bienestar de la familia, the Foundation for Family Welfare with whom the family planning volunteers of DR 19 worked closely.

Over the years, they wore out two VW vans traveling the mountains and campos, connecting with campesinos, doing bird counts, photography, orchid searches and evaluations of local environmental conditions. To inform the reading public about real life in the campo and their country’s incredible naturaleza, they published a weekly feature in El Caribe called Viajes por Nuestro Pais.  This expertise eventually involved them in the establishment of the Botanical Gardens and the Museum of Natural History.  Tudy wrote the definitive field guide and other books on the birds of the Dominican Republic. Don discovered over 50 species of Hispaniolan orchids new to science. 

In 1988, the Dods returned to the US, to Berkeley, due to Tudy’s health care needs. At 76, Don became a research associate at UC Berkeley’s botany department. Tudy died in 1997.

You may remember the grace Don wrote and we spoke at their table:

Jesus, Senor de nuestra vida,
A esta mesa se te convida
El pan bendice a nuestro uso
Para hacer lo que Dios propuso.
Amen.

For a fuller account of Don and Tudy’s life email their daughter, Suzie Dod Thomas, at suziedodsj@aol.com.