Yes how true, he did live his life the way he wanted to and did not care what anyone else thought. Really an original. Like I said in an earlier post that did not make it to the "mainstream" I am so glad I took him to the reunion, little did I know or anyone else, it would be his last and the last time many of us would see him. He is finally with his dear wife again, he missed her so much. I don't think he misses that broken old body of his, I sure he is soring with the angels!
He told me he was very close to his wife's family in Peru and was planning to visit them soon. If anyone knows any of his family here, I would like to find out if there is going to be a service for him and where his body's final resting place will be...
The last time I talked to him he still had his RV parked somewhere between Monroe and 522. We were supposed to get together in Monroe for lunch... I wonder what took him so far away, he had been in ER a couple of times this last winter. Last time I talked to him his truck was not working so he must have driven the RV to Grand Rapids.
We did have a great time talking about everything on our drive to the reunion, he was so excited to see everyone... and he did have fun!!! God Bless you Dwayne!!!
I talked to Dwayne the first part of December..... He called to check on my mom and Aunt Mary (Jack Fouts mom) and didn't know that my aunt had passes away shortly after our reunion. He was really bummed about her passing but seemed to be in good spirits otherwise. He was still in his bus near Monroe. Talked forever which is Dwayne at his finest. No mention of going to Great Falls.
I too was a ham radio guy and cousin Jack and our two dads were charter members of the Mike and Key Radio Club. I'm sure Dwayne was too. My dad and Dwayne had a good relationship and dad asked me often if I had heard from Dwayne, but unfortunately dad died before we connected again with Dwayne. I wish Dwayne had re-entered our lives much earlier so we could have completed that circle. RIP D
Like many of you, I first got acquainted with Dwayne at Sylvester (7th grade). We forged a quick friendship, and he and Pat Galloway and I spent a fair amount of time together. Dwayne was a talented athlete, had an engaging sense of humor (flashing puckish irreverence even then), and was an all-around, likable, good-natured guy.
We headed off in different directions after Highline, lost track of each other, and then by pure happenstance our paths converged one night in an unlikely place -- the bar at Andy's Diner -- about 1981. Dwayne had gone through some rough spots, was forthright about his missteps and blunt about curves he'd been tossed, but we had a good talk. His memory of old friends and long-ago events was razor sharp.
Then time went by. But thanks to the Class of '64 website, he'd reappear from time to time with one of his quirky e-mails as he navigated the vagaries of life.
A character, for sure, and I'm glad to have known him.
Bill
P.S. Unless Dwayne changed the spelling of his last name in later years (and he used to lament the fact that just about everyone misspelled it), his last name was Deslongchamp, the way it appears in the Highline annuals, and as I remember it. A website correction is in order, perhaps?
Dwayne was a memorable friend. Enthusiastic, kind, funny. We hit it off during our time at Sylvester... he was the only kid I knew who had to wear geeky metal arch supports as I did. We both decided to scrap them at about the same time---a bonding experience of sorts. Dwayne came to mind from time to time during the 50 year gap between Highline graduation and the reunion last year. I'm so glad I had those few reunion moments with that pirate. He had changed as we all have, but at the core was still the friend I remembered from youth. I'm thankful for his friendship.
Dwayne definitely marched to the beat of his own drummer. I am sad to hear of his his passing. Although Dwayne and I went to Gregory Heights Elementary together, we really became friends at Sylvester when we both got interested in ham radio along with Marty, Jack, and Tom. Dwayne would take on these amazingly difficult electronic projects and successfully complete them. One my fondest memories was when Dwayne decided we should go to the Ham Radio Convention in Portland. Dwayne had built a mobile tranceiver about the size of a Microwave oven. It had a Heathkit tranceiver in it and a car battery for power. There was a two foot halo antenna sticking out the top and it had straps on it so you could carry it like a backpack. Dwayne called it Breaky Backy Yacky. We took the train to Portland and hiked to the Convention Center making contact with several ham radio operators along the way. There were a couple of old abandoned houses across the street from the Convention Center that served as our hotel room for a couple of nights. Dwayne's Breaky Backy Yacky was a big hit at the Ham Radio Convention. It and our unusual hotel accomodations put our picture on the front page of one of the Portland papers. I ran into Dwayne at an electronics conference in the late 80s and he and his Peruvian wife came over for dinner. He had built a fish processing factory somwhere in Peru that had fallen on bad times due to El Nino. Dwayne was a serial entrepreneur who started many successful bussiness during his life. I"m really sorry I missed the reunion and the chance to see Dwayne again.
I was so sad to hear that Dwayne passed. He was one of the few "guy" friends I had at Sylvester and Highline, but I lost track of him after graduation. Before the reunion, I posted a picture on my profile of our home all decked out for Christmas. Dwayne saw the picture and wrote a note that it was in need of some photochopping. He did a fabulous job tweaking that picture...we used it for our Christmas cards last year! Check out his work on my profile...you can see the original picture and his transformation. He was a man with many talents! I told him I hoped to buy him a glass of wine at the reunion as a small token of appreciation, and he took me up on my offer. So glad I was able to visit with him there. After re-reading his profile, It sounds like he was an adventurous soul, and lived life to the fullest...kind of like a true pirate.
I first met Duane at Sylvester J H when he sat behind me and put the eraser of his wooden pencils in my hair! He was funny and smart. And his eyes were so kind. I never saw him again after Highline graduation. My loss. Bless him.
I missed my last chance to see Dwayne again when I didn't attend the reunion. That couldn't be helped, but it still does hurt. Thank goodness I did at least have the great fun of corresponding with him briefly, after he got in touch via this site, and then of hearing about him from other classmates who *did* attend the reunion -- and seeing photos and all. Dwayne will be remembered with great affection by so many of us, for his terrific humor, open nature, kindness and tremendous capacity for joy. Even after a few months, it's still hard for me to believe he's gone.
this sterling sloan just now hearing of his passing, leaves me with a sense of the surreal,yet a closness to dwayne only now some 4 years beyond his passing.i knew him little then and i was pretty much a loner then of al classmates i e-mailed me a short light humored compasionate messeage the message is as though he callees out from beyond. "come on get reinvolved. classmates,your right Im sorry, not fair to pegeonhole some you back into how we behaved somestime.Some half a century plus ago. I guess more me these forums seemed to be .like platforms like back at berverly parks "show and tell" Look at what i have,what i did.Iguess I just want to get my one book done first something to show what i accomplished too. Immature hah.God bless you al his family.Seems like evert time i hear one passing a tiny piece of myself dies too. even thought i hardly knew them.
Dee Morrison (Cappelletti)
Yes how true, he did live his life the way he wanted to and did not care what anyone else thought. Really an original. Like I said in an earlier post that did not make it to the "mainstream" I am so glad I took him to the reunion, little did I know or anyone else, it would be his last and the last time many of us would see him. He is finally with his dear wife again, he missed her so much. I don't think he misses that broken old body of his, I sure he is soring with the angels!
He told me he was very close to his wife's family in Peru and was planning to visit them soon. If anyone knows any of his family here, I would like to find out if there is going to be a service for him and where his body's final resting place will be...
The last time I talked to him he still had his RV parked somewhere between Monroe and 522. We were supposed to get together in Monroe for lunch... I wonder what took him so far away, he had been in ER a couple of times this last winter. Last time I talked to him his truck was not working so he must have driven the RV to Grand Rapids.
We did have a great time talking about everything on our drive to the reunion, he was so excited to see everyone... and he did have fun!!! God Bless you Dwayne!!!
Tom Nixon
I talked to Dwayne the first part of December..... He called to check on my mom and Aunt Mary (Jack Fouts mom) and didn't know that my aunt had passes away shortly after our reunion. He was really bummed about her passing but seemed to be in good spirits otherwise. He was still in his bus near Monroe. Talked forever which is Dwayne at his finest. No mention of going to Great Falls.
I too was a ham radio guy and cousin Jack and our two dads were charter members of the Mike and Key Radio Club. I'm sure Dwayne was too. My dad and Dwayne had a good relationship and dad asked me often if I had heard from Dwayne, but unfortunately dad died before we connected again with Dwayne. I wish Dwayne had re-entered our lives much earlier so we could have completed that circle. RIP D
Bill Engelhardt
Like many of you, I first got acquainted with Dwayne at Sylvester (7th grade). We forged a quick friendship, and he and Pat Galloway and I spent a fair amount of time together. Dwayne was a talented athlete, had an engaging sense of humor (flashing puckish irreverence even then), and was an all-around, likable, good-natured guy.
We headed off in different directions after Highline, lost track of each other, and then by pure happenstance our paths converged one night in an unlikely place -- the bar at Andy's Diner -- about 1981. Dwayne had gone through some rough spots, was forthright about his missteps and blunt about curves he'd been tossed, but we had a good talk. His memory of old friends and long-ago events was razor sharp.
Then time went by. But thanks to the Class of '64 website, he'd reappear from time to time with one of his quirky e-mails as he navigated the vagaries of life.
A character, for sure, and I'm glad to have known him.
Bill
P.S. Unless Dwayne changed the spelling of his last name in later years (and he used to lament the fact that just about everyone misspelled it), his last name was Deslongchamp, the way it appears in the Highline annuals, and as I remember it. A website correction is in order, perhaps?
Frank Rush
While attending Highline H.S. I heard the name Dwayne Deslongchamp, but never met him personally.
Apparently he was well liked based on the the comments I've read.
RIP Dwayne
Skip Morehouse
Dwayne was a memorable friend. Enthusiastic, kind, funny. We hit it off during our time at Sylvester... he was the only kid I knew who had to wear geeky metal arch supports as I did. We both decided to scrap them at about the same time---a bonding experience of sorts. Dwayne came to mind from time to time during the 50 year gap between Highline graduation and the reunion last year. I'm so glad I had those few reunion moments with that pirate. He had changed as we all have, but at the core was still the friend I remembered from youth. I'm thankful for his friendship.
Paul McManus
Dwayne definitely marched to the beat of his own drummer. I am sad to hear of his his passing. Although Dwayne and I went to Gregory Heights Elementary together, we really became friends at Sylvester when we both got interested in ham radio along with Marty, Jack, and Tom. Dwayne would take on these amazingly difficult electronic projects and successfully complete them. One my fondest memories was when Dwayne decided we should go to the Ham Radio Convention in Portland. Dwayne had built a mobile tranceiver about the size of a Microwave oven. It had a Heathkit tranceiver in it and a car battery for power. There was a two foot halo antenna sticking out the top and it had straps on it so you could carry it like a backpack. Dwayne called it Breaky Backy Yacky. We took the train to Portland and hiked to the Convention Center making contact with several ham radio operators along the way. There were a couple of old abandoned houses across the street from the Convention Center that served as our hotel room for a couple of nights. Dwayne's Breaky Backy Yacky was a big hit at the Ham Radio Convention. It and our unusual hotel accomodations put our picture on the front page of one of the Portland papers. I ran into Dwayne at an electronics conference in the late 80s and he and his Peruvian wife came over for dinner. He had built a fish processing factory somwhere in Peru that had fallen on bad times due to El Nino. Dwayne was a serial entrepreneur who started many successful bussiness during his life. I"m really sorry I missed the reunion and the chance to see Dwayne again.
Barbara Morrison (Shaug)
I was so sad to hear that Dwayne passed. He was one of the few "guy" friends I had at Sylvester and Highline, but I lost track of him after graduation. Before the reunion, I posted a picture on my profile of our home all decked out for Christmas. Dwayne saw the picture and wrote a note that it was in need of some photochopping. He did a fabulous job tweaking that picture...we used it for our Christmas cards last year! Check out his work on my profile...you can see the original picture and his transformation. He was a man with many talents! I told him I hoped to buy him a glass of wine at the reunion as a small token of appreciation, and he took me up on my offer. So glad I was able to visit with him there. After re-reading his profile, It sounds like he was an adventurous soul, and lived life to the fullest...kind of like a true pirate.
Connie Purdy (Gilbert)
I first met Duane at Sylvester J H when he sat behind me and put the eraser of his wooden pencils in my hair! He was funny and smart. And his eyes were so kind. I never saw him again after Highline graduation. My loss. Bless him.
Pat Halberg (Welch)
I missed my last chance to see Dwayne again when I didn't attend the reunion. That couldn't be helped, but it still does hurt. Thank goodness I did at least have the great fun of corresponding with him briefly, after he got in touch via this site, and then of hearing about him from other classmates who *did* attend the reunion -- and seeing photos and all. Dwayne will be remembered with great affection by so many of us, for his terrific humor, open nature, kindness and tremendous capacity for joy. Even after a few months, it's still hard for me to believe he's gone.
Sterling Sloan
this sterling sloan just now hearing of his passing, leaves me with a sense of the surreal,yet a closness to dwayne only now some 4 years beyond his passing.i knew him little then and i was pretty much a loner then of al classmates i e-mailed me a short light humored compasionate messeage the message is as though he callees out from beyond. "come on get reinvolved. classmates,your right Im sorry, not fair to pegeonhole some you back into how we behaved somestime.Some half a century plus ago. I guess more me these forums seemed to be .like platforms like back at berverly parks "show and tell" Look at what i have,what i did.Iguess I just want to get my one book done first something to show what i accomplished too. Immature hah.God bless you al his family.Seems like evert time i hear one passing a tiny piece of myself dies too. even thought i hardly knew them.