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Sid Dosh was born on
October 18, 1938
in
Ocala
Florida
. At an early age he lead an
exciting and fun-filled life in
Ocala
. He was the grandson of
Bert Dosh who was the editor of the Ocala Star Banner and well known
throughout
Florida
and beyond. Sid began his
interest in the newspaper while he was a child as he accompanied his
grandfather to work on occasion.
But his early life was certainly not all work and no play!
For a nickel he could take the bus to Silver Springs and spend
the day swimming in the cool, clear water.
But there was further excitement to be had in Silver Springs.
As Sid was growing up, Silver Springs became the location for the
filming of those famous Johnny Weismuller Tarzan movies.
It was in one of those movies that Sid’s 15 minutes of fame was
realized as he was chosen to play the role of a Black pygmy!
Sid attended
Ocala
High School
where he lettered in four different sports.
Upon his graduation in 1956, Sid received a football scholarship
for
Duke
University
. He attended Duke for the
first three years. His
football career was cut short, however, one day when he blacked out.
The doctors examined Sid and found that he had some scar tissue
on his brain from a previous football injury and epilepsy.
He was no longer allowed to play football.
Fortunately, many years later, a visiting pastor laid hands on
Sid and prayed for healing of those conditions.
Immediately Sid knew he was healed and later doctors confirmed
the healing of his epilepsy and the scarring on his brain.
In 1958 one of his female
cousins who lived in
Louisville
,
Kentucky
, decided to go to
Florida
to visit the family. She
also decided to bring a friend named Marge.
Marge was introduced to Sid and, according to Marge, “It was
love at first sight!” Three
months later they were married and living in
Durham
,
North Carolina
while Sid continued his education. Sid
had been an only child and was anxious to have children.
On their first wedding anniversary, Sid and Marge were blessed
with the birth of their daughter Shannon.
In 1960 the young family moved to
Jacksonville
where Sid continued his education at
Jacksonville
University
. He graduated with a B.A.
in Finance and Marketing from J.U. in 1961.
They continued to live in
Jacksonville
where Sid got a job in sales working for Burroughs Business Machines.
On Sid’s birthday in 1962, the family was once again blessed
with the birth of their son, Rusty.
In 1965 the family moved again but this time it was back to
Ocala
. There Sid and a friend
opened a business that sold cleaning and pool supplies and dynamite
(maybe he found a better way to dig that hole for the pool!)
When he wasn’t busy selling or blowing things up you could find
Sid on the golf course working on lowering his handicap.
According to Marge, Sid spent about 40 hours a week working on
that particular skill. Not
only was he an avid golfer, but he became a very good golfer, also.
Later, he sold the supply company and bought a small sign company
called Routed Signs, Inc. He
built the business up and eventually received some large contracts
including
Silver
Springs
Nature
Park
where you can still find some of Sid’s original signs.
By 1988 the kids had moved out of the home and had families of
their own. Sid and Marge
decided to downsize from the large house they had in
Ocala
and to try to move closer to the grandchildren.
Sid retired and they left
Ocala
and moved to
Chicago
into a condo. Once they
arrived, Sid found a small Jewish College named
Spertus
College
and decided to begin classes there.
He attended between 1988 and 1991 when he graduated with his
Master’s Degree in Jewish studies.
The most amazing thing was that this Christian man became the
valedictorian of his small graduating class of this Jewish college and
gave the commencement address!
In 1992 Sid and Marge left
Chicago
to move back to
Florida
so they could be near their elderly parents.
They had decided that they wanted to live on the water but did
not want to live on one of the beaches, so they found
Crystal
River
and those childhood memories of swimming in cool, clear water came
flooding back. It was an
easy choice to move into their perfect home there.
Soon Shannon and her three sons moved to
Crystal
River
, also. That perfect place
would suddenly change in 1993 when the “storm of the century” came
through flooding their home. Marge
said that she stepped into their property to find herself chest deep in
water. Once the water
subsided and the damage to their home was assessed, they rebuilt a stilt
home there in
Crystal
River
to prevent any future flooding.
Things settled down but Sid found himself restless.
He had always been busy working and retirement was too tame.
He decided he needed some kind of job and found a small want-ad
that listed a job as a reporter for a small newspaper in
Dixie
County
-The Dixie County Advocate. He
was hired on as a reporter in 1998 and in 2000 had the opportunity to
purchase the newspaper. While
Sid owned the paper he seemed to work 24 hours a day.
He was active in the Dixie County Rotary Club, Chamber of
Commerce and Sons of the Confederacy among others.
Of course, this was just a continuance of what he had begun in
Ocala
where he was active in many of these same organizations and more.
He was busy not just because he was doing his job as owner of the
newspaper but because he loved our community and wanted to be an active
member so he could get to know everyone.
Of course, even a small paper like the advocate is a busy place
faced with deadlines. At
some of the most tense and busy times at work, often Sid would break out
in song to relieve the pressure.
In addition to his family, Sid had two other great loves.
The first was his trusty Border Collie Abby.
Her full name is Abigail Rose and everyone, including Abby, knew
when she was in trouble because it was then that Sid would call her
“Abigail” rather than Abby. Of
course, Sid could never stay angry at her too long because he loved her
too much.
The other great love that Sid had was love for his country.
He was very patriotic and was a strong supporter of the Jr. ROTC
at the high school and a strong supporter of our military troops.
It was Sid who began publishing the Roll Call of those from
Dixie
County
who are serving in the military every week in the paper.
The tradition has continued as we are reminded of those who are
serving to protect our freedom and way of life.
Another love he had that was seen through those acts of love and
kindness that he displayed was a love for God.
Sid was raised Episcopalian.
He found the Lord in 1979 at a special Cursillo retreat.
But he did not stop there. It
was his love of God that brought him to be ordained in a
nondenominational church in 1982 in
Ocala
. After that you could often
see him in the pulpit of a small church preaching and leading the
congregation in song. He
remembered that healing that had taken place in his body and knew that
God loved him.
Only a few years ago, Sid was diagnosed as a borderline diabetic.
Though the doctors considered starting him on medication for the
disease, Sid decided that he could defeat the disease with diet and
exercise. The daily
chocolate shakes that he once had became daily salads; he also began to
walk the local trail vigorously. In
fact, often when my wife and I went out early in the morning to walk the
trail we would pass Sid walking in one direction and upon our return
would be passed by Sid in the other direction riding his bike.
Through his effort he lost a lot of weight and his sugar returned
to normal. He became an
example to all of us as to what could be done if we only were willing to
work at it.
Last week,
May 17, 2006
, Sid died suddenly at home. Though
all of us are shocked and saddened by his loss, we have many wonderful
memories to draw upon as we remember that happy man who seemed to be
everywhere at once always trying to help whoever he encountered.
He is survived by his wife Marge, daughter Shannon, son Rusty,
and father Sidney Dosh, Sr. He
is also survived by six loving grandchildren Andrew, Ashley, Zachary,
Megan, Ryan and Annie. He
will surely be missed by all.
Service was held at the First Baptist Church of Cross City,
Florida. |
