Victim from Old Saybrook was planning to retire soon

Middletown - Raymond Dobratz of Old Saybrook was working 12-hour shifts, seven days a week as part of a large crew trying to complete the Kleen Energy Systems plant here. In a few months, he planned to retire.

"He was tired. He was going to take the summer off and regroup and spend time with his family,'' said his oldest son, Erik, Sunday night.

He'll never get to do that, as the 58-year-old supervisor pipefitter for Keystone Contractors was one of five workers killed Sunday in a massive explosion at the plant.

After the accident, Dobratz was flown by Life Star helicopter to Hartford Hospital where he was pronounced dead, his son said.

"He died on the job he loved, working with the guys he loved,'' Erik Dobratz said as his family gathered at his Cinnamon Ridge home.

Erik Dobratz said his father was a great family man who was looking forward to seeing more of his five young grandchildren and fishing for striped bass off the beach in Old Saybrook.

Raymond Dobratz, a plumber for 38 years, was until recently a member of the Old Saybrook Police Commission. He also founded the Old Saybrook Youth Football League in the late 1980s. He coached his three sons in baseball, basketball and football.

The younger Dobratz said his dad, who was 6-feet-4 and weighed 235 pounds, was a popular figure in town.

"Pick up the phone book and call anyone,'' he said. "Everyone knew him."

He was the kind of youth coach that most kids wanted, he said.

"Parents used to call and yell at the parks and rec department when their kids didn't get on his team,'' he said.

Dobratz grew up in Meriden, where his mother and sister still live, and graduated from Maloney High School in 1969. He also served in the Connecticut National Guard.

Dobratz is survived by his three sons, Erik, Matthew and David, who up until two weeks ago also was a pipefitter at the site. He was married to his wife, Paula, for 39 years.