Victor Arsene Dumas

VICTOR ARSENE DUMAS Victor Arsene Dumas died on December 26, 2021, at the age of 98. Victor was born in 1923 in Ogdensburg, NY; the third child of Victor A. (1st generation French-Canadian) and Julia Turnbull Dumas (a Polish immigrant) Dumas. He attended school in Ogdensburg and though he did drop-out during the 30's to help support his family he eventually returned. At the start of WW11 he joined the Navy and attended bootcamp at Great Lakes Navy in Chicago, Illinois. Victor was assigned to the Navy's Photography Corps and was given assignments in Malta, North Africa, Washington D.C., and aboard ship. It was in Washington D.C. that he met the love of his life Mary E. Bennett. They married in 1943 and spent 68 years together until Mary's passing in 2011. After the war, Victor and Mary lived in Madison, WI where they attended the University of Wisconsin. After college they returned home to Michigan. In the years after college Vic used his talent as an artist and illustrator in the design departments of Studebaker Packard, Chrysler, Utica Bend, Willys Motors, Dow Burroughs, and Curtis Wright Corporations. Eventually Victor started his own graphic design and publishing company, Art Industrial and did work for Fingerle Lumber, Chrysler, and several others. He also did publicity for those running for public office including, his wife Mary's campaigns for Wayne County Commissioner. He climbed the Canadian Rocky Mountains, sailed down the Nile River and explored the tombs of ancient rulers, watched the sunset on the Serengeti, explored the wilds of Australia and New Zealand, saw the temples of Thailand and Tibet, walked the streets of London, Edinburgh, Paris, Moscow, and Beijing. These are just a few of the places Victor saw in his lifetime with his wife Mary. He also spent untold hours making wooden toys which he enjoyed giving to children when he played Santa Claus at regional YWCA's and local groups. Victor was a member of Dearborn Heights Jaycees as well as the Livonia Rotary Club where he served as President for the year 1995-1996. He was also a cub scout leader and active in his church in Dearborn and Livonia where he was a member of St. Andrew's Brotherhood. Victor is preceded in death by his wife Mary, brother Charles (age 3), sisters Elenore Lucy Verdon-Wheelock and Mary Julia Szubeczak. He is survived by his son Charles Dudley (Debby), daughters Cordelia Anne, Julianne Marie, and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. The funeral will be at R.G. & G.R. Harris Funeral Home Farmington Rd. north of 5 Mile in Livonia, on Saturday April 30. Visitation will start at 12:30 p.m. and the service will be at 2:00 p.m. Please make a donations to Forgotten Harvest or Alley Cat Allies.