Owen Deforrest Dimock II
June 5, 1932-Oct. 24, 2026
Healdsburg, California

Owen Dimock was born in San Jose, California, a town of only 54,000 in 1932. Called Bud by his family and friends, his earliest memories included trips to the farms and homes of relatives in Shasta, Siskiyou and Trinity counties where his parents Owen and Gertrude were born and raised. Although not tall, Owen excelled in basketball playing guard for Lincoln High School, class of 1950. At USC he was president of his fraternity, and as he remembers it, more into socializing than studying. After a very brief stint writing treatments for the popular 1950s television show “Topper,” he returned to San Jose feeling a need to get serious. In order to follow his father into dentistry he attended San Jose State to complete requisite chemistry courses. There he met Patsy Lee Hamilton whom he married in February 1957. Soon after the wedding they moved east while he attended Georgetown University. Returning to San Jose in 1962, they raised three children: Michael, Lisa and Timothy. He deeply valued nature and shared this with his wife and children through camping, hunting, fishing, and backpacking. Owen became a much-loved dentist, known for his humor and skilled care of patients. He and Pat travelled abroad often. The family moved to Palo Alto in 1976 where they made a lasting circle of friends. While there fly tying and fishing became passions enjoyed late into life. He retired his practice in 1999 and they moved to Healdsburg to be close to their children who had all landed near there. They loved their home on Fitch Mountain that overlooked the town and Dry Creek Valley. An avid reader, he consumed thousands of books with particular appreciation for Tolstoy, Steinbeck, Pynchon, Vonnegut, McCarthy, and Rushdie, whose works he periodically reread. In his early 80s Owen began writing a series of three novels that he self-published. They chronicle the perilous, but exciting and long life of a well-read, crafty, and increasingly moral Russian Cheka agent. After Patsy passed in May 2020, he was lovingly cared for by Lisa and on Sundays by his sons who sat with him to lose at dominos, and to share an always convivial meal. He was recently predeceased by his son Timothy. He is warmly remembered by his kids, nephews, friends including those met through his kids, Fitch Mountain neighbors, and Wednesday lunch mates from the Healdsburg Senior Center as a witty, gentle, kind, and generous man. Owen passed peacefully surrounded by his daughter and son.