(memorial service)
written by the family and Chuck Holloway:
Duane Arthur Dittman, former vice president at the College Of William and Mary, died Friday evening, September 17 at the Riverside Regional Convalescent Center after a long illness. He and his wife, Virginia, have been residents of Williamsburg since 1980. A devoted husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend, he was deeply committed to his career in higher education and to his church, community and country.
Dittman retired from William and Mary in 1987 after serving as vice president for university advancement and senior adviser in development. Before leaving the college, he was honored by an alumnus, Douglas Morton '62, who endowed the Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professorship in the Department of American Studies.
From 1976 to 1980, Dittman served as vice president for development at Davidson College in Davidson, NC. He spent 18 years in a similar capacity at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. He began his career in higher education at his alma mater, Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, where he was a Colgate Memorial Scholar and recipient of Colgate's Maroon Citation award. Some of his affiliations included Beta Theta Pi social fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa national honorary fraternity.
As a leader in university relations, he was president of the American College Public Relations Association (ACPRA) in the late 1960s, and later helped bring about ACPRA's merger with the American Alumni Council to form the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). Earlier, Dittman had been a development consultant for the Ford Foundation, working with historically black colleges.
After the establishment of CASE, Dittman served on their southeastern district board of directors. Later, he also became a senior consultant with John Grenzebach and Associates of Chicago, IL.
Dittman was especially proud to have served as a US Navy active duty Corsair pilot for five years during and after World War II and continued on active reserves into the 1950s. He was an active member of Rotary International for years, serving as president of the Canton, NY club and as national chairman of the Rotary international home exchange program.
In Williamsburg, he was a member of the board of directors of the local Chamber of Commerce and Williamsburg Landing, and was a faculty member of the Williamsburg Development Institute from 1981 to 1985. Dittman was also an elder of the Presbyterian Church and a member of the Williamsburg church's building committee.
He is survived by his devoted wife of 47 years, Virginia Scott Dittman; his son Scott Dittman, and his wife Susan, of Lexington, VA; his daughters, Sharon Dittman, of Ithaca, NY, and Donna Dittman Hale, and her husband Ted, of Williamsburg, VA; and four grandchildren, Sarah, Griffin and Clay Dittman and Wilson Hale. He was predeceased in 1991 by his youngest son, Douglas Dittman. Dittman has two sisters, Phyllis McClelland of Holland, PA, and Doris Bartow of New Paltz, NY, and one brother, Glen Dittman of Nampa ID.
A celebration of his life will be held at the Williamsburg Presbyterian Church on Tuesday, September 21 at 2:00 pm.
Because Dittman cared so deeply for the organizations he served throughout his life, the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to an organization of the donor's choice.
September 18, 1999