Douglas E. Dyer Jr of Warwick, NY passed away on November 4, 2021 after having enjoyed a life filled with happiness, joy and love. He was 82 years old.
Born on October 12, 1939 in Newark, NJ, he was the son of Douglas Sr. and Rose (Christman) Dyer. He carried the nickname “Chip” for much of this young and early adult life – a moniker that he never cared for as he felt strongly that he was his “own man”…when in reality he was more like his father than he cared to admit.
Doug grew up in Hunterdon, NJ, a small rural community at the time. He attended a one room schoolhouse in Reddington, NJ that he reached by walking (uphill – both ways – in the snow) or later on this trusted horse, Tex. He was the inaugural graduating class from Hunterdon Central High School, where alphabetically, he was the second graduate on record.
During his high school years, Doug studied dance at the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Manhattan. He was talented enough to land a part on Broadway as an understudy “Shark” in Westside Story. His love of dance, particularly classical ballet, remained with him throughout his life and he was a patron of the New York City Ballet attending several performances every year.
He proudly served his country in the U.S. Air Force from 1959 thru 1962. When not on the flight line, he spent his off-duty hours building and racing hot rods, which was the perfect segue to modifying cars to run moonshine in the back hills of Goldsboro, NC. His chopped and channeled Model A hotrod even won a time trial at Broadslab Speedway (Benson, NC) where recalled meeting “Big Daddy” Don Garlits at the finish line.
After his discharge, he joined Honeywell Inc. as a field service engineer where he made a name for himself as the man who could fix anything. During this time, he attended Thomas Edison College (Trenton, NJ) and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Engineering. He used his immense talents in conceiving, designing, developing and building clinical laboratory instrumentation and information systems, first for Vickers of England, then Vickers America Medical and finally for the venture capital start-up he co-founded, Ichor Technology.
Doug was an avid outdoorsman. As a founding member of Woodland Hunters (Whitehouse, NJ), he spent many hours practicing the fine art of wildlife management. He passed that love and respect for hunting onto his children and grandchildren. A self-proclaimed “red-neck”, he fervently believed that a bad day in the woods was infinitely better than a good day in the city. Not to be confined to land, Doug was a talented sailor, spending many hours on the waters of Raritan Bay, Long Island Sound and later Lake Champlain aboard the sailing yacht, “Dragonfly”. The sky also intrigued Doug. His flight log was only a few hours short of him obtaining his private pilot’s license. He was fascinated by aerospace and NASA, he watched every rocket launch with the awe of a child. Having spent years desperately trying (but never succeeding) to see a space shuttle launch from Cape Kennedy, he was crushed when the Space Shuttle program was retired.
Always a sport’s fan, Doug cheered on his favorite driver’s, Jeff Gordon (#24) and Jimmy Johnson (#48), bemoaned the hopeless and hapless Mets and Jets, and waited impatiently every four years for the America’s Cup to watch first Ted Turner (Courageous), then Dennis Conner (Stars and Stripes) take on the world for the Auld Mug.
Doug is survived by his devoted wife Lucia Bonnier at home; sons: Jesse Bonnier and his wife Jill of Greenwood Lake; Ryan Dyer of Warwick, and Corey Dyer and his fiancé Kim of Mahwah, NJ; four grandchildren: Maureen(Mike), Nichole(Jason), Kurt, and Anneliese; one great-grandson, Wyatt; brother Robert Albers and his wife Pat and sister, Heidi Dyer. He was predeceased by his brother, Paul Dyer.
Visitation will be on Monday, November 8 from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. with a service at 5:30 at Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick.
Arrangements were made by Lazear-Smith & Vander Plaat Memorial Home, 17 Oakland Avenue, Warwick. To send an online condolence, visit www.lsvpmemorialhome.com