KITTERY – Daniel C. Durgin of Kittery, and many other wonderful places, passed away peacefully at the Gosnell House in Scarborough, on July 11, 2021 at the age of 83. During his brief illness, Dan was surrounded by his family and spoke reassuringly to each of them about the love and pride he had for them all. His departure from us allowed his reunion with his wonderful wife for 59 years, Judith Durgin who had predeceased him on July 16, 2018.

Daniel was born in Kittery on May 7, 1938 the son of Lena and Carl Durgin. He spoke warmly of attending Kittery schools and Traip Academy. After high school Dan attended Colby College, spent four years in the Air Force from 1960 to 1964, stationed primarily in England, and then returned to the States to graduate from Colby. Prior to joining the Air Force Dan met Judie Hammond of Springvale on a blind date in Kittery which led to their marriage in 1959 and a lifelong love.

Dan and Judie had four children together: Jim, Jane, Julie, and Jay. Dan and Judie taught the four of them the importance of family and community, and helped forge bonds among their children that will last throughout their lives.

Dan knew how to work hard. He threw himself into a career as a school administrator, serving as a business manager first at Berwick Academy and then for the Exeter School District. From there, he served a long career as school superintendent for SAU 50 (Rye, Greenland, Newington, and New Castle) from 1979 to 1994. Try working with all those school boards, he would say!

Dan’s hard work and accomplishments in school administration paled, however, to the love and support he provided to his family and friends. He was always there for his children, his grandchildren, and most recently his great-grandchildren. After his retirement, his life revolved around that extended family and the friends he had made along the way. He and his wife Judie pulled the whole family together for trips to Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Florida, often around the Christmas holidays. Even in later years, the family gathered together for the holidays in Northport, with massive exchanges of gifts and applause for each opened treasure.

Dan and Judie lived on Fernald Road for some time with their children, who have fond memories of play time in the “rumpus room” downstairs. From there they moved to Cook Street, where son Jay rounded out the four Durgin children. After the children had grown, Dan and Judie moved to Robbinston in Washington County, and then from there, moved to Westport Island. But throughout their entire lives they regularly were in Kittery at family gatherings in their honor. Dan and Judie also spent many winters in Bermuda. Wherever they lived, remarkably, they made close friends, participated in clubs, and had a rich social life. We remember well their stories of the “Friday Night” crew at Westport Island, yet this was true wherever they lived.

Dan had many interests. He was a great collector of baseball cards, long before it came into vogue. How many collectors insisted on purchasing Drake Cakes in volume just to get the cards within them? Perhaps his greatest hobby, though, was playing poker — an art he did especially well in and around Maine and New Hampshire, but also regularly in Las Vegas. We suspect many in that big city will not miss frequently losing to Dan at the poker table. Even recently, Dan introduced his granddaughter, Maeve Dow, to poker, looking to her to carry on that torch! He was also a great lover of cars and trucks, spoke often about them with sons Jay and Jim, and Jim’s son Jacob as well. As with so much of his family, it was a generational thing. The boys would travel with him to Carlisle, Pa. for old car shows, and he delighted in the 1963 Chevy truck that son, Jay restored for him from a truck that belonged to Dan’s father.

Throughout it all, Dan was a great fan of Boston sports. He was always amazed to have seen the great successes late in life of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, after many early years of finding solace only in the Boston Celtics. Remember the Boston Braves? Well, Dan sure did!

Dan followed his grandchildren’s successes closely. He and Judie followed the track careers of Carley and Emily, Olivia’s high school cheering, and Nicholas’s career coaching high school soccer. As the grandchildren became adults, he cheered them all on with work, careers, and family.

Dan fostered a great love of “camp life” in all his family. He and Judie had camps on Mousam Lake and Loon Pond, and all their children and grandchildren spent most of their summers growing up in and around these camps. Even recently, Dan reveled in stories of grandchildren Kyleigh and Keira getting up on water skis at Jay’s camp in Dexter. He was so glad to have great-grandchildren enter his family, with Ellie and Callum becoming a part of family life. And always, everywhere, making close friends. He grieved this year the loss of Danny Cain, a close friend he made in England in the early ’60s but remained in touch with throughout his life. He also appreciated the friendship of Rita Bailey, a support during the last year of his life.

Dan is survived by his children and their families, Jim and wife Maryann and their children, Jacob and Emily; Jane and her husband Eric, and Jane’s children, Carley and Nicholas and Nick’s wife Katrina and children Ellie and Callum; Julie and husband George Dow and their children Olivia and Maeve; and Jay and his wife Casey and their children Keira and Kyleigh. He is also survived by his brother, Jim Durgin.

He is predeceased by his parents Lena and Carl Durgin; and his sister, Elizabeth Durgin.

There will be a service at 3 p.m. in the JS Pelkey and Son Funeral Home in Kittery on July 19, with a gathering there of friends and family from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Online condolences may be made by visiting http://www.jspelkeyfuneralhome.com.

Care for the Durgin family has been entrusted to the JS Pelkey and Son Funeral Home.

Donations in Dan’s name can be made to Footprints Food Pantry in Kittery.

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