Dad, Husband, Marine Corps Veteran Graduates LHU
by Christopher Miller
LOCK HAVEN – Timothy Dobos of Mill Hall has worn many hats. From fighting for our country as a Marine to being invited to give a Sunday sermon at his church. Being a husband, a father of two young boys and a positive role model for all who know him has allowed Dobos numerous opportunities to serve his community.
On Saturday, May 12, 2018 he will don yet another hat; this one with a mortar board and tassel, as he rolls onto stage at the 141st commencement of Lock Haven University graduates.
After high school, Timothy enlisted in the Marine Corps where he served until August 2012 as an Electronics Intelligence Analyst collecting data from radio waves. While enlisted, Dobos completed one tour in Kuwait at Camp Buehring and then was deployed with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit to places such as Turkey, Spain, Greece, Bahrain, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
During his time in the Marines he married long-time Christian summer camp friend Robyn (Simmons) of Johnstown, PA. “Four days after we moved-in to a house in Lock Haven we learned of Robyn’s pregnancy.” “Later that month, I began as a Freshman at LHU,” Timothy stated, laughingly.
Typical of most undergraduate students, Timothy explored a variety of college majors and academic disciplines. His favorite by far, were his studies in Applied Physics and Nanotechnology. “I also dabbled in Sociology, but decided that after 6 years at LHU, exhausting the funds available with the GI Bill and wanting to spend time with family as we begin to homeschool our children with a strong emphasis on physics and libertarianism,” Timothy stated. Timothy opted to graduate with the Bachelor of Science Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with major focus in Mathematics and Physics.
One of his major role models was the late Stephen Hawking. Hawking, who recently passed away was also studying many of the same interests as Dobos; however, “Nanotechnology is a bit more relative than astro-physics,” relates Dobos. “Nanotech is much more important than astro physics because we live on earth; you can look at what you have in your hand and manipulate it but when you study astrophysics, there is nothing you can do to affect a star 8 lightyears away,” Dobos says laughingly.
Like Hawking, Timothy Dobos also suffers from the same debilitating disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
As The Record and therecord-online reported back in July 2016, Dobos is very well known in the local community as being a recipient of Homes for Our Troops; a non-profit organization that builds accessible homes for disabled veterans and their families. Dobos was diagnosed with ALS in the spring of 2014, but symptoms first became prevalent in the fall of 2013.
Timothy’s health slowly began to deteriorate before he was diagnosed with the life altering disease. “I just started to become weak,” he said in a recent interview. “I was on the floor playing with my oldest son Grove, now 4, and I just was not able to get up…it took me the longest time.”
“I suffer from the lesser of the types of ALS,” Dobos stated. “Spinal ALS is related to a paralysis that begins to creep into your fingers and toes and when it reaches your diaphragm muscles, you lose the ability to breathe and that is the point when people decide to either get a tracheotomy or tough it out.” “At 30% lung capacity, a trach is recommended,” Dobos states. “As of my last Pulmonary Function Test last year, I am at 48% lung capacity.
“Considering the typical prognosis of 2-5 years,” Timothy says, “it is possible that I should not last past September of this year,” he adds jokingly. Miracles do happen, and that is what the people who know the Dobos family closely are holding on to. That, and a strong belief in God. Timothy is a “Godly-man.” As Pastor Josh Grimes says of Timothy, “Tim Dobos continues to play an important part of the Common Place Church and is a committed member. He recently helped us launch our Common Place College ministry club and served as our first president. He is full of humility and grace and cares deeply for people.”
Timothy also worked very closely with the former college student pastor Samuel Waldron who had this to say about his resilience and dedication toward higher education, “The college workload is not easy for many people. Unable to take his own notes or write his own papers, Tim has had a greater level of difficulty to stay on top of things than his peers. In our shared time working on homework, I’ve witnessed Tim’s determination and hard work, things that although are impressive, are not surprising coming from a guy who has served in the marines. Yet the thing I have admired most is his passion for his studies. You’d think someone in his situation would grow to loathe school, but Tim has only developed a greater hunger to learn and understand more of the world he finds himself in, whether that’s with quantum particles or the relationships between groups of people in a given social order. That passion is contagious and impactful! All I can say is, “Congratulations, Tim! Thanks for letting me be a part of the journey to graduation!”
The Dobos family are members of the Common Place Church which meets at Avenue 209 on Bellefonte Avenue every Sunday morning. Timothy’s job for the past year has been to record and upload audio/visual of each sermon for those celebrating the word and works of God outside of the Clinton County community. He also celebrates God’s goodness by volunteering with events at the church, such as “Love on a Bun” where the church hands out free hot dogs to all walks of life from the front of Odd Fella’s Burgers downtown.
The celebration of God’s goodness continues Saturday with the commencement exercises for the 141st LHU graduating class.
