Edwin Dorvin, dentist, deacon and real estate developer, dies at 81
Edwin C. Dorvin, a dentist and real estate developer who found his most fulfilling work as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, died Thursday.
By on February 28, 2015
Edwin C. Dorvin, a dentist and real estate developer who found his most fulfilling work as a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church, died Thursday (Feb. 26) of natural causes in Metairie. He was 81.
Mr. Dorvin graduated from Jesuit High School in New Orleans and Loyola University's School of Dentistry. He served two years in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps and ran a private dental practice in Metairie until 1968. At that point, he turned to real estate.
Dorothy Dorvin described her late husband as a driven, charismatic man, unafraid of risk. She recalled the time in the early 1970s when he drove her down an unlighted two-lane road and pulled up next to an expanse of empty land. He'd just bought it and would call it Chateau.
The road is now the bustling Williams Boulevard, and the high-end Chateau Estates is now one of Kenner's most prestigious subdivisions. Mr. Dorvin also was responsible for the Ormond Estates development in Destrehan and Stonebridge in Gretna.
Mr. Dorvin's life changed again during the mid-1980s oil bust. It ended his real estate development pursuits but inspired him to enroll in seminary in 1987. A pastor encouraged him to become a deacon, and he was ordained in the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1991.
"He lost a ton of money," Dorothy Dorvin said. "But he always said that was the best thing that ever happened to him in his life. Because after that God brought him to his knees and emptied him, and the Lord filled him."
His wife said Mr. Dorvin cherished the story of his birth, on a kitchen table in a shotgun home in New Orleans on Elysian Fields Avenue near Galvez Street. "He had a life that not many people on Earth have," she said.
Mr. Dorvin lived in Metairie and served as a deacon at St. Clement of Rome Church.
Besides his wife, his survivors include three daughters, Terry Chamberlain of River Ridge, Mary Kay Raymond of Kenner and Lynn Corvers of River Ridge; a son, Chuck Dorvin of Kenner; 12 grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.
Visitation will be take place Monday beginning at 10 a.m. at St. Clement of Rome Church, 4317 Richland Ave. The funeral Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond, begins at noon. Burial will follow at Garden of Memories. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Sister Servants of Mary in New Orleans, St. Michael's Special School and Notre Dame Seminary.
Mr. Dorvin graduated from Jesuit High School in New Orleans and Loyola University's School of Dentistry. He served two years in the U.S. Navy Dental Corps and ran a private dental practice in Metairie until 1968. At that point, he turned to real estate.
Dorothy Dorvin described her late husband as a driven, charismatic man, unafraid of risk. She recalled the time in the early 1970s when he drove her down an unlighted two-lane road and pulled up next to an expanse of empty land. He'd just bought it and would call it Chateau.
The road is now the bustling Williams Boulevard, and the high-end Chateau Estates is now one of Kenner's most prestigious subdivisions. Mr. Dorvin also was responsible for the Ormond Estates development in Destrehan and Stonebridge in Gretna.
Mr. Dorvin's life changed again during the mid-1980s oil bust. It ended his real estate development pursuits but inspired him to enroll in seminary in 1987. A pastor encouraged him to become a deacon, and he was ordained in the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1991.
"He lost a ton of money," Dorothy Dorvin said. "But he always said that was the best thing that ever happened to him in his life. Because after that God brought him to his knees and emptied him, and the Lord filled him."
His wife said Mr. Dorvin cherished the story of his birth, on a kitchen table in a shotgun home in New Orleans on Elysian Fields Avenue near Galvez Street. "He had a life that not many people on Earth have," she said.
Mr. Dorvin lived in Metairie and served as a deacon at St. Clement of Rome Church.
Besides his wife, his survivors include three daughters, Terry Chamberlain of River Ridge, Mary Kay Raymond of Kenner and Lynn Corvers of River Ridge; a son, Chuck Dorvin of Kenner; 12 grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.
Visitation will be take place Monday beginning at 10 a.m. at St. Clement of Rome Church, 4317 Richland Ave. The funeral Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Gregory Aymond, begins at noon. Burial will follow at Garden of Memories. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Sister Servants of Mary in New Orleans, St. Michael's Special School and Notre Dame Seminary.
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