Submitted by: John C. Monk

F. William DuMont

Jan. 5, 1926 - May 28, 2009
SOUTH BEND - F. Wm. "Bill" DuMont, 83, died at home on May 28th in Fairfield Glade, TN. Mr. DuMont was born in South Bend, Indiana, on January 5th, 1926, the son of Frank and Marie (Shirk) DuMont. A graduate of South Bend's James Whitcomb Riley High School, DuMont distinguished himself as a prep athlete before obtaining an athletic scholarship to the University of Notre Dame as a 17-year old freshman in 1943. He served as an enlisted Quartermaster with the 7th Fleet, spending more than a year in the Philippines during WW II. DuMont completed his education at Miami. University in Oxford, Ohio, where he played three years of varsity basketball, was affiliated with the SAE fraternity, and was graduated in 1949 as president of his senior class. DuMont enlisted in the military for a second time, becoming a Marine platoon leader, serving in Korea, where he was wounded in action leading his platoon in an attack on a Chinese stronghold. He later declined a regular commission and left the Marine Corps as a decorated captain. During DuMont's subsequent 30 years in the business world, he held a variety of executive sales positions with Celanese, SCM and BASF, supplying the automotive industry with chemical coatings. Mr. DuMont was an affiliate member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, a member of the Detroit Athletic Club and a 20- year member of the Pine Lake Country Club. Since 1983 DuMont had been involved with a number of avocational interests. First, in Pentwater, MI, where he researched genealogy and served as vice president of the Historical Society was a member of the Planning Commission and president of the Pentwater Tennis Club. Later, in the Fairfield Glade Resort in Tennessee, where he and wife Doris retired in 1991, he continued to enjoy the fellowship of tennis and golf companions. The DuMonts had four children, three of whom, along with his wife and one grandson survive him. There will be no funeral or formal memorial service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to your local hospice.

Published in South Bend Tribune on 6/3/2009