Duane C. Dauch had a long career in the insurance field and worked at the East Hampton Post Office for a few years, but one of his favorite jobs was bartending at Wolfie’s Tavern in Springs. He liked it “because of the many people he met and joked with,” his family said.
Mr. Dauch, formerly of Springs, died on Sept. 24. More recently a resident of Naples, Fla., he was 80 and had been ill for several years.
He worked as a sales broker with Allstate in Jackson Heights, Queens, before moving to East Hampton and beginning his tenure at the post office in 1968. In 1973, he went to work for an uncle’s insurance firm based in Islip, and for the Edward F. Cook Agency. He was also employed for several years by the Strong Agency, and in 1999 moved to Florida, where he started his own insurance inspection business — “a job he loved because he wasn’t in an office and he loved meeting and talking with people,” his family said.
Mr. Dauch was a founding board member of the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter and an early member of the Springs Fire Department’s ambulance squad. He was lifelong collector of stamps and coins, and enjoyed clamming at Three Mile Harbor. A Giants and Yankees fan, he could not bring himself to cheer on the Florida teams after he moved.
He was born in Freeport on Jan. 3, 1941, to Bernard A. Dauch and the former Helen Young. He grew up in Hempstead and attended Uniondale High School and C.W. Post College.
He married Penny Roberts in July of 1963. The couple’s children survive; they are Karin Dauch Ryon of Solomons, Md., and Matthew Dauch of East Hampton. He also leaves two grandchildren, Matthew Ryon and Kate Ryon, and a brother, Lawrence Dauch of San Jose, Calif.
Mr. Dauch was cremated. A family memorial gathering was held earlier this month. His family has suggested memorial donations to the Springs Fire Department, 179 Fort Pond Boulevard, East Hampton 11937.
