Dan Duggan's Obituary

Moderator: GreenLake

Dan Duggan's Obituary

Postby Bob Hunkins » Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:37 am

Received this note from Brian Bush via Bob Blake Jr.:

Daysailer Friends,
I was reading the Globe this morning and saw Dan's obituary.I thought
I'd pass it along so I've copied it here. We've lost a good friend and
sailor.

Brian


Daniel J. Duggan, 74, avid sailor, longtime IBM worker By Gloria Negri,
Globe Staff | September 16, 2004

Daniel J. Duggan was a legend around the Corinthian Yacht Club in
Marblehead. A sailor from the time he was a boy in Winthrop, he took
part in sailing races and was a longtime member of the club's race
committee.

''Dan was an avid sailor right up to the end," said his wife, Margaret
C.
(Flannery) Duggan.

Mr. Duggan, 74, who worked for 44 years for IBM in systems engineering,
sales, and education before retiring nine years ago, died Tuesday at his
Marblehead home after a long battle with cancer.

Recently, the Eastern Yacht Club of Marblehead, the Marblehead Racing
Association, and his fellow North Shore sailors honored Mr. Duggan with
the Leonard Fowles Award for his lifetime achievement and commitment to
sailing.

''For a long time, Dan was involved in furthering boat race management,
from national championships down to small boats in local races. He
always had an eye for detail and a very caring approach toward race
management that considered the racers as well as the fairness of running
the event," Dennis Esposito, race committee chairman at Corinthian, said
yesterday.

Mr. Duggan so loved sailing, Lew Livermore of Marblehead said, that
several years ago he persuaded Livermore to ride with him to Sarasota,
Fla., to take part in a regatta -- trailing his day sailer in the middle
of a snowstorm.

''A sailing analogy best describes Dan," Livermore said. ''In all kinds
of weather and all kinds of things, Dan was steady at the helm in both
life and sailing. He was a friend who would go way out of his way to
help people."

Mr. Duggan, who won many races in his O'Day day sailer, his Rhodes 19,
or a Towne class boat, never hesitated to share his knowledge of the sea
and boats with other sailors who hoped to excel as he did.

''Dan devoted a great deal of his time and effort in helping people make
their boats better," said Jack Killian, an Acton resident and Marblehead
sailor. ''I crewed for him in some races and competed with him in
others. I always lost to him."

Mr. Duggan also prized old cars. He was a member of the North Shore Old
Car Club and owned a 1931 Ford Roadster, which he acquired in 1961,
restored twice, and taught his children to drive on.

A daughter and a daughter-in-law also arrived at the church for their
weddings in the blue car with the yellow wheels.

His fondness for the old but reliable extended to his day sailer, on
which he taught his children to sail and which he still kept after 38
years.

Mr. Duggan was born in Winthrop, the son of Daniel J. Duggan Sr. and
Barbara M. (Carter) Duggan. His father was a well-known New England
pilot. During World War II, he served as a captain in the Royal Air
Force Ferry Command, flying lend-lease bombers from Canada, where the
family had moved, to England. ''We had got into the war and in one week,
four of our planes crashed," Mr. Duggan's wife recalled. ''One of them
was Dan's father, who was reported lost in action."

With her two sons, Barbara Duggan returned to Winthrop, where sailing
came naturally to 10-year-old Dan.

Mr. Duggan graduated from Boston College High School in 1948 and studied
for a year at Boston College before enrolling at the Maryknoll Seminary.
Though he decided against joining the priesthood, Mr. Duggan graduated
from the seminary with a liberal arts degree in 1952.

Early in life, as a tribute to his father, Mr. Duggan earned a private
pilot's license but didn't pursue flying. Recently, however, he enjoyed
using a flight simulator on his computer.

After the seminary, Mr. Duggan joined the Coast Guard and spent part of
his four years on a ship in Labrador, teaching electronics. On his
return, he met Margaret Flannery, a nonsailor at first, but not for
long. They were married for 47 years.

Soon after they married, still living in Winthrop, Mr. Duggan and two
other men built three Mass Bay Hustler sailboats and the Duggans took
part in weekly races around Boston Harbor.

He also taught his children how to sail and race.

''Dad was very competitive, but very fair and never harsh," said his
daughter Barbara Foot of Winchester. ''I was the one who was Captain
Bligh aboard a boat."

Because of Mr. Duggan's work with IBM, the family lived for a time in
Connecticut, moving to Marblehead 34 years ago.

Though he became ill several years ago and could no longer sail, his
interest in the pastime remained strong. So did his interest in people,
his wife said. At times when he came into Boston for his medical
treatments, Mr.
Duggan stopped at a senior center to teach elders how to use a computer.

This summer Mr. Duggan had one last sail in Boston Harbor -- aboard the
turn- around cruise of the USS Constitution with the ship's former
commander David Cashman, a Marblehead friend.

Besides his wife and daughter, Mr. Duggan leaves two other daughters,
Kathleen of Gloucester and Mary Litster of North Andover; two sons,
Wayne of Edmond, Okla., and John of Marblehead; nine grandchildren, and
one great- grandchild.

A funeral Mass will be said tomorrow at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church
in Marblehead. Burial will be private.
Bob Hunkins
#11750, "Surprise"
San Leon, Texas
Bob Hunkins
Site Admin
 
Posts: 378
Joined: Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:37 pm
Location: Fleet 25, Houston, Texas

Return to History

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests