DeWitt Clinton Dominick (June 4, 1918 – September 9, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Life

He was born on June 4, 1918, in Newburgh,

Orange County, New York Orange County is a List of counties in New York, county located in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 401,310. The county seat is Goshen (village), New York, Goshen. This count ...

, the son of D. Clinton Dominick (1889–1967) and Blanche H. Dominick (1890–1976). He attended the public schools and

Newburgh Free Academy Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) is the public high school educating all students in grades 9– 12 in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District, which serves the city of Newburgh, New York, most of each of the towns of Newburgh and New Windsor, ...

. He graduated from

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

, and attained the rank of

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

. In 1944, he married Nancy Ragan (1922–1978), and they had five children. He graduated from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

in 1948, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Newburgh. Dominick was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

(Orange Co., 1st D.) from 1955 to 1958, sitting in the 170th and

171st New York State Legislature The 171st New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1957, to March 26, 1958, during the third and fourth years of W. Averell Harriman's governorship, in Albany. B ...

s. He was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

from 1959 to 1970, sitting in the 172nd, 173rd, 174th, 175th, 176th, 177th and

178th New York State Legislature The 178th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 8, 1969, to April 20, 1970, during the eleventh and twelfth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. ...

s. He was a delegate to the

New York State Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

of 1967. In 1970, he co-sponsored the bill which legalized in the State of New York unrestricted

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

until 24 weeks of pregnancy. In June 1970, he ran for re-nomination, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Conservative Republican Richard E. Schermerhorn. Dominick died on September 9, 2009, in

Ponte Vedra Beach Ponte, a word meaning ''bridge'' in Italian, Portuguese, and Galician languages, may refer to: Places England *Pontefract, a town in the Metropolitan City of Wakefield France *Ponte Leccia, a civil parish (hameau) in the department of Haute-Cors ...

St. Johns County, Florida St. Johns County is a county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 273,425. The county seat and most populous incorporated city is St. Augustine, although the nearby c ...

;''Deaths; DOMINICK, D.''
in ''The New York Times'' on September 20, 2009 and was

cremated Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

. Assemblyman DeWitt C. Dominick was his grandfather.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominick, D. Clinton III 1918 births 2009 deaths Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Newburgh, New York Republican Party New York (state) state senators Virginia Military Institute alumni Columbia Law School alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army colonels 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature