Deborah A. Dahl died peacefully in her sleep on December 16, 2025, after suffering for five years with endometrial cancer. She was 72 years old.
After Dahl graduated from Case Western Reserve University, she co-founded and led a small community theater group to national prominence as America's first resident, professional Theater of the Deaf. She was briefly Managing Director of the NYC Ensemble Studio Theater, then served for five years as the Foundation Officer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Ford Foundation, along with social justice leadership, credit the client outcomes of Dahl's visionary work with reinventing nonprofits. Dahl’s work at Arcadia Associates, a non-profit Quaker network she founded, built 21st century careers for social change. She delivered transformational results in leadership and coaching programs, proving: the whole is different from, and greater than, the sum of its parts.
Friendships - old, new, and intergenerational - were an integral part of Dahl’s life and legacy. Her ability to proclaim, “All Is Well,” left a lasting impression. Dahl’s brilliance and laughter will be deeply missed by her many friends, particularly those at the Quaker Fifteenth Street Meeting.
Extraordinary gratitude to Robert Renwick, fellow Quaker, who gave Deborah a home for the last five years of her life.
Deborah’s parents were Harold E. Dahl and Carol (Keller) Dahl. She was married twice, first to Chuck Rosenow and then to Paul Lustgarten. Deborah is survived by an older brother and two younger sisters.
Find Deborah A. Dahl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-a-dahl-40439414
Find Deborah A. Dahl on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.dahl.3/reels/
After Dahl graduated from Case Western Reserve University, she co-founded and led a small community theater group to national prominence as America's first resident, professional Theater of the Deaf. She was briefly Managing Director of the NYC Ensemble Studio Theater, then served for five years as the Foundation Officer for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The Ford Foundation, along with social justice leadership, credit the client outcomes of Dahl's visionary work with reinventing nonprofits. Dahl’s work at Arcadia Associates, a non-profit Quaker network she founded, built 21st century careers for social change. She delivered transformational results in leadership and coaching programs, proving: the whole is different from, and greater than, the sum of its parts.
Friendships - old, new, and intergenerational - were an integral part of Dahl’s life and legacy. Her ability to proclaim, “All Is Well,” left a lasting impression. Dahl’s brilliance and laughter will be deeply missed by her many friends, particularly those at the Quaker Fifteenth Street Meeting.
Extraordinary gratitude to Robert Renwick, fellow Quaker, who gave Deborah a home for the last five years of her life.
Deborah’s parents were Harold E. Dahl and Carol (Keller) Dahl. She was married twice, first to Chuck Rosenow and then to Paul Lustgarten. Deborah is survived by an older brother and two younger sisters.
Find Deborah A. Dahl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-a-dahl-40439414
Find Deborah A. Dahl on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.dahl.3/reels/
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