The Honors Student Who Followed in His Father’s Footsteps

By Jared Colucci and Micah Crudup

William Dobrovich

May 14, 1935-December 4, 2000

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William Dobrovich was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1935. He was born to Joseph and Mary Dobrovich. His maternal grandparents were first generation immigrants from the Yugoslavian region. Prior to World War I, Yugoslavia was part of the Austrian-Hungary empire, His mother was born in Joliet Illinois in 1905 and died May 1st, 1941, after giving birth to at least 9 children.[1] William was only six years old when his mother died. William’s father, Joseph, was born in the Yugoslavian region in 1896. At some point Joseph emigrated to the United States and married Mary Terlep in 1924. He worked making horseshoes in order to provide for his large family.[2] Joseph also registered for the Old Man’s Draft on April 27th, 1942, for World War II.[3] He was drafted into the Navy and served until the end of the war, where served on the U.S.S. Garnett, a coastal patrol yacht.[4]

William attended Saint Patrick High School in Chicago Illinois. He was an honors student and had perfect attendance. He graduated in 1953.[5] After graduation, William enlisted and did his military service during peacetime, in the years between the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Following his service William moved to Denver, Colorado in 1979, living in various apartments in the Denver area.[6] William would live in Denver for the rest of his life, and he passed away on December 4th, 2000.[7] During William’s time in Denver he saw the city undergo monumental changes. In the 1980s, oil prices crashed, energy and gas workers in the Denver area lost their jobs, and unemployment rates soared. In 1983 the city was in a full-blown recession; at the same time the city elected its first Latino mayor Federico Peña. Peña was able to convince the residents of Denver to reinvest billions of dollars into the city resulting in a new stadium for the Colorado Rockies, over 200 million dollars to Denver Public schools, the groundwork for the Denver International Airport, and much more.[8] Then in 1991 the city elected its first black mayor Wellington Webb.[9] Webb began his term as Denver was rising out of a recession with unemployment rates falling and overall economic growth on the horizon. Webb promoted business growth in downtown and helped continue the projects put into place by Peña.[10]

Following William’s death, his remains lay unclaimed in a Denver-area mortuary for over twenty-one years. This was likely the case because William had few or no remaining family members in the area. He was buried at Fort Logan National Cemetery on April 14, 2022, along with six other veterans whose remains were unclaimed. This was made possible by the honors burial project, a chapter of Vietnam Veterans who have taken it upon themselves to provide a proper military funeral to the veterans whose remains lay unclaimed across the Denver area.

Footnotes ↓

[1] “Illinois, U.S., Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947.” Ancestry.com, entry for Mary Dobranich. Accessed May 17, 2022. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/1909764:2542 Note: All records are listed as Dobranich but the spelling of the last name was later changed to Dobrovich.

[2] “1930; Census Place: Joliet, Will, Illinois Joseph Dobranich.” Ancestry.com, entry for Joseph Dobranich. Accessed May 17, 2022. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/88232170:6224

[3] “Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration Joseph Dobranich.” Fold3.com, entry for Joseph Dobranich. Accessed May 12, 2022 https://www.fold3.com/image/281334241

[4] “U.S. World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949 Joseph Dobranich.” Fold3.com, entry for Joseph Dobranich. Accessed May 13, 2022. https://www.fold3.com/image/308425738?rec=291337211&terms=dobranich,bill

[5] “U.S. School Yearbooks, 1880-2012." Ancestry.com, entry for William Dobranich. Accessed May 17, 2022. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/449624208:1265

[6] “U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995.” Ancestry.com, entry for Wiliam Dobranich. Accessed May 15, 2022. https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/1510915527:2469

[7]. “Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014.” Ancestry.com, entry for William Dobranich. Accessed May 10, 2022. https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3693&h=15876140&tid=&pid=&queryId=cfda7af1d23977a3abedb26dc393971a&usePUB=true&_phsrc=zzR11&_phstart=successSource

[8]. Noel, Thomas J. "Imagine a Great City". DenverGov. Archived from the original on December 31, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2022.

[9] Kaufmann, Karen M. (2003). "Black and Latino Voters in Denver: Responses to Each Other's Political Leadership." Political Science Quarterly. Academy of Political Science. 118 (1): 107–125. doi:10.1002/j.1538-165x.2003.tb00388.x. ISSN 0032-3195.

[10] Blount, Donald. "'80s downturn spurred state to scale new peaks". The Denver Post online edition. Retrieved August 25, 2022.

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