David C. Dobson, Practiced Law In Renton For Decades

His nephew and law partner will never forget the time David C. Dobson cross-examined a hostile witness on the stand and ended up bringing her around to help their side.

It was years ago during a custody trial and the witness had just testified that Mr. Dobson's client, a mother, was unfit to care for her children because her house was dirty. Yet after Mr. Dobson's skillful questioning, the witness acknowledged that if someone were to drop in on her home unexpectedly, he might find a mess as well.

"I was just amazed how he was able to turn the testimony around," said Wyman Dobson, who practiced law with his uncle. "He was a master at cross-examining people."

Mr. Dobson, a longtime Renton resident and prominent lawyer who was in private practice in that city for more than 40 years, died of cancer Jan. 6. He was 76.

As a young man, Mr. Dobson played a year of minor-league baseball. Later, his interests turned to horse racing. For more than 30 years he owned and bred racehorses.

It was not unusual, said his son, David, for him to go to the Longacres track at 5 a.m. and spend a couple of hours watching his horses train.

"He loved horses, he loved the track," said his son. "My dad was an athlete and he looked at horses as athletes. He had a respect for athletes and for competition."

Mr. Dobson was born in Renton in 1918 to Thomas and Grace Dobson, who had moved to the then-new city in 1898. A coal miner with only a third-grade education, Thomas Dobson established several successful businesses in Renton and became a Republican state legislator.

Mr. Dobson attended Henry Ford Elementary School and Renton High School, where he excelled at baseball and basketball. He graduated from the University of Washington, where he played varsity basketball and lettered in baseball as a sophomore, junior and senior.

After playing minor-league baseball, he joined the Navy Air Corps in 1941, three months before Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he became a commander of a squadron of bombers.

After the war, he earned a law degree from the UW and worked for several years as a deputy prosecuting attorney with the King County Prosecutor's Office. It was there he met Martha Dahl, secretary for the King County prosecutor.

In 1952, the couple married and Mr. Dobson joined his brother's Renton law firm, Dobson and Houser. The general-practice firm added his name, becoming Dobson, Houser and Dobson. He retired from full-time practice in 1987, though he worked at the firm several days a week until shortly before his death.

His son said Mr. Dobson's most important interest was his family: his wife and three children.

He also was devoted to the law.

"He always had a great sense for what was fair," said David Dobson. "In most conflicts, (he believed) if people were willing to be reasonable, there could be resolution."

Mr. Dobson was a former president of the South King County Bar Association. He was a longtime member of the Washington Horsebreeders Association and Horsemen's Benevolent Protection Association. His hobbies included golf.

He is survived by his wife, Martha of Lake Tapps, Pierce County; two daughters, Karen Jo of Newport, Ore., and Mary Ann Thomas of Port Orchard; a son, David T. Dobson of Renton; a brother, John W. Dobson of Renton; and four grandchildren.

Memorials may be sent to the Renton Historical Society.