Pieter Steven Dubbelday's Obituary
Our earthly father and grandfather has now joined our Heavenly Father. Born in what was then the Dutch East Indies (as the youngest child with four sisters), he grew up in the Netherlands, living as a teenager through the Nazi occupation of Holland. His love of science (he received a
Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) led him to a summer program in America at M.I.T. in 1956, where he met one of the only three women there, Afaf, from the Middle East. They courted by playing violin and piano together, and their beautiful music led to a wedding in January of 1959. Recruited to America due to his degree, they arrived in the U.S. on Thanksgiving Day 1959 and ultimately became American citizens (and changed their name from Dubbeldam to Dubbelday). After a short time in Wisconsin, where daughter Wadad was born, they moved to Florida, where daughter Catharina was born. Dr. Dubbelday served as a professor at Florida Institute of Technology for twenty years where his rigorous classes were popular. His legacy at Florida Tech lives on via the Pieter and Afaf Dubbelday Scholarship. During the last decade of his career, he served as a civilian for the Naval Research Lab in Orlando where he became known for his work on hot-film anemometry. He received several awards for his publications and technical excellence. Pieter’s skill as a professor and a scientist was legendary and, even in a room full of brilliant people, his genius still stood out.
After retiring and traveling the world together, Pieter and Afaf moved to the Dallas area in 2002 where they lived together until she passed in late 2017. In his later years, he lived at Avalon Memory Care. He was preceded in death by his wife, Afaf, parents, Jacob and Catharina (known as Riek), and sisters, An, Dien (Jan), Rie (Oege), and Co (Johan), as well as a few of his sister’s children. Pieter is survived by his brother-in-law, Nabil, his daughters, Wadad and Catharina, their husbands, Jeff and Craig, and his granddaughter, Annaliese, as well as cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, and wonderful family members via his sons-in-law.
A funeral service will be held on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, at 1:30 PM at NorthPark Presbyterian Church in Dallas (please wear a mask) and will be livestreamed as well.
A private burial to be attended by family only will take place at Restland Cemetery.
A man of great brilliance and deep faith is now in heaven. Rest in peace, Papa/Opa, we love you and will miss you all the time.
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