Alumni Spotlight – Larry Doll ‘67
January 2, 2014
The achievements of Susquehannock alumni are a constant source of fascination and discovery, but few such stories are more engaging than the journey of Larry Doll ’67.
Larry moved to a dairy farm outside New Freedom when he was in 8th grade and enrolled at Susquehannock, then including grades 7-12. “I didn’t set the world on fire in the classroom,” he recalls, “but I always felt like I belonged.” He played football and basketball, but his farm responsibilities prevented him from becoming more active in student life. “We were dirt poor,” he says. “Transportation was always a problem and it was a big deal for me to go to Bixler’s Drug Store, get a Cherry Coke, and play some pool after school.”
When he graduated from high school, he found his short-term future planned for him courtesy of Uncle Sam and the United States Army in the form of a draft notice. With no interest in going to Viet Nam, Larry secured an enlistment in the Marines with the assurance of assignment as a computer programmer following training in this relatively young science at the University of Georgia. But when he so distinguished himself at boot camp that he graduated at the top of his class, the Marines realized they had a more immediate need for PFC Larry Doll, and made him a scout in the 1st Battalion of the 26th Marine Regiment stationed on the USS Iwo Jima – off the coast of Viet Nam.
Although a reluctant warrior, Larry served in the only way he knew how; he gave it everything he had. With his unit responsible for rescuing troops from the Iwo Jima via helicopter, Larry saw frequent combat, suffering wounds for which he was awarded two purple hearts, one such injury being serious enough to classify him as ‘disabled.’ He was also awarded the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry for action under fire.
Following his combat tour, he served as a courier in Okinawa with top secret security clearance. When qualifying for honorable discharge in December 1969, he accepted and returned to the United States for processing. But upon his arrival, he learned that the Marines had again changed their minds about his future and he was assigned to serve in the Marine Honor Guard in Washington D.C. where he was a member of the elite Silent Drill Team for two years.
After he left the Marines in 1972, he attended Piedmont Community College in Charlottesville, Va., not really sure what he wanted to do next. While there, he supplemented his income by performing as a lounge singer, accompanying himself on the guitar. Although he had no formal musical training, he discovered that he could sing while stationed on the USS Iwo Jima and performed with an on-board pick-up band between deployments. When he left the Marines, he purchased a guitar and taught himself how to play. While in Charlottesville, he even had some opportunities to become a professional performing and recording musician, but turned them down because he wanted something more stable. He retains a passion for his avocation, however, and has recorded four CDs.
Upon graduation from Piedmont, he sat for the real estate exam at a friend’s suggestion, passed, and accepted a job with a local firm. Later, he developed an interest in commercial real estate and by 1980 was established to the point where he could start the Lawrence Doll Company, specializing in residential and commercial land development. In 1995, he formed Doll Development and Lawrence Doll Homes, builders of upscale homes and townhouses in the greater Washington D.C. area. And in 2005, he purchased a controlling interest in ISI Professional Services, a provider of real estate, facilities, and administrative services to federal government agencies and commercial clients. Although concentrated in the Washington D.C. Area, ISI has completed projects in 40 states.
Along the way, he became involved in a start-up banking venture, George Mason Bankshares, eventually rising to a position as its Board Vice Chairman. When the bank was acquired by United Bankshares in 1998, Larry was asked to stay with the new organization. He is currently Chairman of the Board of one of the banking giant’s subsidiaries, United Bank, an operation with over $4 billion in assets operating in the D.C.-Virginia-Maryland metro area.
He is also a founding partner in Drexel Hamilton, an institutional broker-dealer with offices in Philadelphia and Wall Street. One of Larry’s partners in this operation is General Peter Pace, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Larry’s one-time company commander. Larry is also Chairman of the Board of Directors at ATSG, a professional and IT services company contracting primarily with U.S. government agencies, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia.
In addition to his record of business success, Larry is also known for his philanthropic leadership. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of George Mason University Foundation, a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Maryland’s Education Foundation; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges; and serves on the board of Fairfax Hospital’s Life with Cancer Foundation. He also founded Wall Street Warfighters, an organization that helps disabled veterans become self-sufficient after return from combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. The charity is funded by Larry’s brokerage firm and trains veterans for careers in the financial services industry.
One of Larry’s regrets is that his family moved from the area prior to his scheduled graduation. While he received his diploma from a Maryland school district, he remains a Warrior at heart. During an interview for this article, his wife Gioconda asked him about the school’s peculiar looking name and how it was pronounced. Larry immediately launched into our trademark cheer: “SUS…QUE…HANNOCK…SUSSSS-QUEHANNOCK,” as if it were only yesterday. He says he always considered himself to be a proud member of the Class of 1967, and we do too.
Larry lives in Northern Virginia with his wife Gioconda, and is a proud parent of daughter Jessie (a Wake Forest graduate with a Masters degree from George Washington) and Andrew (currently working on a double masters at George Mason).
Thanks to Larry Doll, Class of 1967, for making us Warrior Proud!