Dragan Dobrich
early years
Work ethic has been embedded in our DNA for generations. Dragan’s understanding of hard work started by a learned experience watching his mother Anica as a young child. She gave birth to 9 children and once her husband Nikola immigrated to Canada for a better life for the family; she was left with responsibility of raising the family. She did it with grace and never complained about her role and what she had to get done. She always reminded her children of their blessing; and to share when they could. Food was scarce and they ate every few days, and that’s if Dragan didn’t share his portion with his friends who had nothing. They worked hard as kids due to circumstances and knew it had to be done. That work ethic and heart carried on in the lives of all of the Dobrich children. It now resonates with our family; the heart of lion and the drive of a locomotive.
immigrating to canada
Sacrifices were made early for the Dobrich family as the Patriarch of our family, Nikola Dobric (Dragan’s father), emigrated to Canada the year Dragan was born. He went for a better life and to build a foundation for generations to come. He was working for CN rail when Dragan met him for the first time at the Docks of Montreal in 1956 when he was 12 years old. He quickly saw that the hard work he learnt early in his life was necessary, no matter where he lived. Times were tough while they worked, shared responsibilities and try to learn a new language. This is where they learned to fight for what was right.
a new life in windsor
The family settled in Prelude, Saskatchewan, but soon after moved to Windsor, Ontario to chase new opportunities in the automotive industry. Dragan went to High School at Forrester Public school and worked part time at a supermarket in the meantime. During his time at N&D he realized a deep hunger for a better life and that started with the right partner. He met the love of his life Beverly as he went through her check out lane, time and time again, until she agreed to a date. Six months later they were married. Dragan knew he had to provide in this country that he was foreign to but the early lessons of hard work combined with his thirst for success would lead to his first entrepreneurial opportunity, Doug’s Variety Store.
double d and beyond
It was during his time of ownership at Doug’s Variety that Beverly gave birth to their 3 sons Mirko, Petar and Bogdan. It was soon after that Dragan realized he needed to look to new opportunities to provide for his bigger family. To combat that, he befriended a supplier of his that worked for Neilson ice cream. They loved Dragan’s tenacity and personality and offered him a sales job for the company. Within a few years Dragan grew the business significantly and asked to become the distributor for Windsor/London area. Double D Distributors was born. Over the next 30 years Dragan grew DD into one of the largest food distribution companies in Canada, while employing over 30 families for the economy in Windsor.
later years
Giving was in the heart of Dobrich and it continued all through his life. Dragan was always involved both physically and financially with all causes that were dear to him, specifically his Serbian community in Canada. He quickly got involved in most fundraising projects from Windsor to London, even all the way to Hamilton. His heritage was important to him but what was more important, was for the future generations to celebrate. He was a founding member at the Serbian Community Center in Windsor, as well as being recognized as the Kum. In 1985 his charisma and and drive led to the completion f the largest expansion of any community center in Canada. We have embraced his devotion and have continued it in our journey width the Dobrich Memorial Progam.
his legacy
Unfortunately Dragan was diagnosed with Colon cancer, a hereditary condition in 2008 and faced the biggest fight in his life. He knew it was fatal but lived life to its fullest until his last day May 6, 2010. The legacy that he left is immeasurable in many ways. He often referenced that the founding members of the Dobrich family struggled too much for us to get outworked today. It is something that we will never forget. We believe giving is our genes and the foundation of all hard work. So, please join us is our continued pursuit of giving, as we focus on making the world a better place and leaving it better than we found it.