Cumberland, RI – David William Dewey died at his home in Cumberland, Rhode Island on November 19, 2025, at the age of 75 of pancreatic cancer.
David Dewey, known to family and friends as Dave, born March 3, 1950, was the son of David Lester and Carol Packard Dewey. Dave grew up on Mountain St. Haydenville, MA almost right next to his grandparents Fred and Mae Dewey. A few years later his beloved sister Debbie was born.
Dave leaves his wife Maureen K. Dewey, his sister Debbie Dewey and her wife Anne Berkeley of Raleigh, NC, sister-in-law Eileen Kirwin of Milford MA, brother-in-law Joseph Kirwin of Lowell MA, brother-in-law and sister-in-law Tom & Heather Kirwin of Lowell and brother-in-law Dan Kirwin of Hollis, NH and several nieces and nephews.
He attended local schools and graduated from Williamsburg Jr./Sr. H.S. in 1968.
Dave attended college at the University of Georgia and California Western University graduating in San Diego in1972.
Returning home, Dave found his professional calling while working on the Bear Swamp Hydroelectric project. He would be a Construction Safety Professional.
He started as a Safety Engineer in Training with the Warren Brothers Co. in Cambridge, MA. After five years of great training and mentoring, he decided to leave a corporate position to accept the position of Safety Manager for Nielsons, Inc. of Cortez. CO.
But before leaving, he married the love of his life, Maureen Kirwin, a special education teacher from Lowell, MA. Together they embarked on a great adventure. They left urban and green New England for rural and arid southwest Colorado. It was a new climate and offered a cultural change in lifestyle.
Dave loved working for Nielsons along with the many opportunities to visit nearby National Parks, Monuments and historical sites and places. Arches and Brice Canyon were favorites. The winter skiing at nearby Telluride was another plus.
After ten years in Cortez, it was time to return home. Dave accepted a job offer from Perini Corporation in Framingham, MA. After three years working on a very large RI Bridge project, he accepted the position of Corporate Safety Director at Perini. He would later work on Boston’s “Big Dig” and on Perini projects in New York City.
On September 11, 2001, Dave watched from a bridge project in Queens as a plane struck the South Tower at the World Trade Center. Three days later, he and other volunteers from the project went to Ground Zero to help. He would never forget the sights, sounds and smells of that day.
Leaving Perini to return home to RI, Dave worked for a brief time for a small foundation subcontractor in Cumberland, RI. Later, he was hired by J.F. White Contracting Co. of Framingham, MA. J.F. White was the lead Joint Venture contractor on the previously mentioned “Big Dig” project, so Dave knew and was known by J.F.White management. Over the next 10 years Dave worked on many projects in the Boston area until his retirement at the end of 2015.
Dave was a Civil War buff and was so proud to learn that two of his great great-grandfathers enlisted in the Union Army. Each one returned home uninjured.
Dave also was interested in his ancestors. The first Dewey arrived in Dorchester, MA from England in 1634. Thomas Dewey soon left with others to help found Windsor, CT.
But it was the more recent immigrants in his family tree that he tracked relentlessly. He found his great grandfather George Wenzel was from Germany and they visited with some distant relatives there in the tiny village of Eiterhagen.
He had even more success with George’s wife Jane. She was from County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It was here that Dave found his father’s second cousin who introduced him to Jane’s cousins who were also Dave’s cousins. Maureen and Dave made numerous trips to Ireland subsequently and still retain contacts with these Irish cousins.
From 2004, with their first cruise, to 2025, Dave and Maureen have taken at least thirty cruises. Other travel included Southern Africa, the Galapagos Islands, and Glacier National Park, a place Dave wanted to visit since childhood. In their travels, they have visited more the fifty countries.
Dave had a great love of animals and, birds etc. He always made a point to go to animal parks or facilities to see them up close. A favorite was Sylvester the Cheetah. He was hand raised from a cub by people at the Elephant Camp in Zimbabwe. He was a beautiful and gentle creature.
Dave will be waked at Fay McCabe Funeral Home, 105 Moore Street, Lowell MA from 2:00 until 5:00 on December 11, 2025. On December 12, 2025 there will be a memorial service at 3pm at the First Congregational Church in Williamsburg MA at 4 North Main Street, Williamsburg MA 01096.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Lustgarten Pancreatic Research, 504 RXR Plaza, Uniondale NY 11556 www.lustgarten.org
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