Alexis (Dusty) Doster III, a longtime resident of Annapolis, MD, who returned to Tucson recently, died on June 25, 2017, at age 74. Born in Waterbury, CT, Dusty attended Green Fields School and graduated from Amphitheater High School and the UA. In a career that spanned 35 years at the Smithsonian Institution in Wash., D.C., Dusty was a curator at the Air and Space Museum, a senior editor at Smithsonian Books, and history editor at Smithsonian magazine. The breadth and depth of his knowledge and interests was legendary, his reading habits voracious, his memory remarkable, and his love of the desert and his family passionate. He had a black belt in talking.
Dusty is survived by his wife of 52 yrs., Cynthia (Bell) Doster; daughters Tracy Welch (Tim Savage) and Stephanie (John) Capuano, all of Tucson; brother Robert W. Campbell, of Tumacaori, AZ; sister Sara Campbell Wohl of Croton-on-Hudson, NY, and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, June 30, 2017, at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 602 N. Wilmot Rd., Tucson, AZ 85711. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dusty’s memory to Green Fields School, 6000 N. Camino de la Tierra, Tucson, AZ 85741 or to Casa de la Luz Foundation, 7740 N. Oracle Rd., Tucson, AZ 85704.
To express condolences, visit the guest book at www.legacy.com/tucson/obituaries.