Donald Dery

Donald Alexis Dery died at age 89, on 18 November 2024 in Newport, Rhode Island, after a decline of several months. He was born February 22, 1935, the only child of Elve Rose (Houle) and Francis Alexis Dery. Don is survived by his second wife, Rowena F. Dery; and by his five children, Jo-Ann Dery and Robert Tosi; Robert Dery and Paola Legarre; David and Amy Dery; Michael Dery; and Robin Dery; and by his grandchildren, Eli and Lydia, Samuel, Sara, Rowan, Jack, Anna, Sophia, and Hannah. In addition to his parents, Don was predeceased by his first wife, Gayle F. O'Connell Dery, and by his life-long best friend of 72 years, Robert C. Johnson.

Don earned a BA in Journalism from Boston University in 1957. He was a reporter for the Providence Journal for a year in the late 1950's. He then worked at Polaroid Corporation in Public Relations for 24 years, where his flashpoint "Dery Temper" was legendary. He balanced that temper with a robust sense of humor and was notorious for impromptu one-liners.

Don married Gayle in 1956. They had five children by the time he was 28, and he was an involved dad to his young kids. Don helped with elementary school Haunted Houses, PTA meetings, and Little League baseball coaching. He and Gayle got kids to wee-hours hockey practices, lacrosse games, karate lessons, choir performances, school drama productions, and countless trips to the emergency room for stitches and fractures.

He was a life-long Boy Scout, and a member of the Order of the Arrow; Don was a Cub Scout Master, then Assistant Scout Master, then Scout Master for BSA Troop 242 in Newton Highlands. Don helped many youngsters (including his two daughters) experience the fun of camping and backpacking through campouts, Jamborees, Nobscot trips, and Camp Yawgoog. Not always much of a rule follower himself and possessing an advanced sense of mischief; when his scouts, in the process of losing a canoe race, diverted from course and paddled crosswise through the other canoes, swamping them as they went; he was somewhat chagrined, but mostly entertained.

Don was an engaging public speaker. Put a microphone in his hand and he transformed into a ring master. Always good at shepherding a crowd, Don master-minded many a Polaroid Shareholders Meeting, Troop Pancake Breakfast, Spaghetti Dinner, and Boy Scout Christmas Tree Sale.

Don became a sailing aficionado later in life, to the point that he and his 2nd wife Rowena lived aboard for a few years, migrating up and down the eastern seaboard with the seasons. When that was no longer possible, they took up winter residence in Antigua, where Don could sit by the pool reading autobiographies and historical books, a lifelong pleasure. Don was the author of two books of fiction, and he co-authored a three-volume history of the sugar industry in Antigua.

Don modeled a relentlessly positive attitude, even in the face of some very difficult childhood and family challenges. He often quoted his mentor, Dr. Edwin Land, that he had a moral obligation to be an optimist. Donations in Don's memory may be made to the financial aid program at Sail Newport's Youth Sailing Program in Newport, Rhode Island.