Claire Louise Dobelle

1949 - 2015

1949 - 2015
Claire Louise Atkinson Dobelle passed away on Thursday, March 26th, at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. She was sixty-five. She was born to David and Laura Atkinson on October 30th, 1949, and spent her childhood up and down the East Coast before ultimately settling in New York. Dobelle had a distinguished journalistic career before dedicating herself to family life after giving birth to three children.

As Claire Atkinson, she began her television news career as a production assistant for MacNeil/Lehrer before the program became NewsHour. She was subsequently recruited to The Press and the Public Project, Inc., where she was intimately involved in the production of Inside Story on PBS. Inside Story, hosted by former Asst. Secretary of State Hodding Carter III, was renowned for its investigative journalism and won four Emmys as well as the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award. Former colleagues fondly remember Dobelle as a pragmatic problem-solver, an intra-office diplomat, and an integral part of the production team.

She married William H. Dobelle, PhD, a scientist and entrepreneur, in 1990. Dr. Dobelle predeceased his wife in 2004. Mrs. Dobelle is remembered as a loving mother and friend, and is survived by six siblings as well as her three children: Martin D. Dobelle (24), Molly Dobelle (23), and Mimi Dobelle (21).

In lieu of flowers, the family would encourage a modest donation to Claire Dobelle's preferred non-profit, Reporters Without Borders. A bench will be placed in memory of Claire and Bill Dobelle near the West 67th entrance to Central Park.