Donald Paul Dressler

Age 77, of Portsmouth, RI, formerly of Cambridge, MA, died peacefully at his home after a long illness on September 5, 2007. He was the son of the late Morris and Lily Dressler. He was the beloved husband of Lucinda (O'Loughlin) Dressler and the devoted father of Elizabeth (Dressler) Santaus and her husband Darryl, grandfather to their children Meredith and Benjamin, of Orange, CT, Frederick Dressler and his wife Susan of Madison, MS, and Amy Meredith Thompson and her husband Mark of Newmarket, NH. He was the brother of Edward J. Dressler and his wife Lucille of Belmont, MA, uncle to Ann Stanford and her husband Glen, and to Michael and his wife Martha, and great-uncle to their children Adam and Rebecca. Dr. Dressler is also survived by his former wife, Nancy Wall, the mother of his children. A dedicated physician, Dr. Dressler was a graduate of Boston College High School and Tufts University. Following in his fathers footsteps, he graduated from Tufts Medical School and established a surgical medical practice in Cambridge at Mount Auburn Hospital. For many years he conducted medical research in thermal injury and smoke inhalation. A retired Air Force Reserve Brigadier General, he began his military career as a medical corpsman in the Army Reserve in 1948. After transferring to the Air Force Reserve, he was a command surgeon who served in numerous capacities including hospital commander at Hanscom Air Force Base and the Assistant for Reserve Affairs for the Military Airlift Command. Visiting hours Thursday, September 13, from 2-7 p.m. at the Stanton Funeral Home, 786 Mount Auburn Street, (Rt16) Watertown, MA. Interment will be Friday, September 14, at 11:30 a.m. at the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Connery Avenue, Bourne, MA. A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 6, at 9:00 a.m. at the Hanscom Air Force Base Chapel, Bedford, MA (please call 401-682-1540 by October 3rd for access to Hanscom Air Force Base). Due to floral restrictions at the cemetery, Please omit flowers. Donations may be made to the Dave Powers Foundation, 150 Third Avenue, Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston, MA 02129, the VNS Hospice of Newport and Bristol Counties, RI, 1184 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871, or the Fisher House Foundation, please specify the Fisher Houses of Fort Sam Houston, Brooke Army Medical Center, 1401 Rockville Pike, Suite 600, Rockville, MD 20852. (www.fisherhouse.org). Stanton Funeral Service, Inc. 877-924-3838 www.stantonfuneralhome.com