Obituary: John S. Dugan Jr., 68

John S. Dugan Jr., 68 of Second Street, Newport passed away on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 in Newport.

Born in Newport on September 9, 1947, John was the son of the late John S. and Margaret D. (Norbury) Dugan.

John attended St. Augustin Elementary School, De La Salle Academy, Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute and Southeastern Massachusetts University. He also served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1967 to 1969, which included a tour of duty as a radio-teletype operator in Stuttgart, Germany.

John worked for the former Safeway System, Inc. and its successor, Waste Management of RI for 26 years, and in 1998 he founded Aquidneck Waste Consultants, a consulting and brokerage firm in the solid waste industry.

John was a longtime member of the James L. Maher Center Board of Directors, where he served on many committees. He was the founder and president of FROM THE HEART, INC., which held yearly ‘black tie’ fundraisers for the benefit of the Maher Center and several other local organizations. He was also a member of the Fort Adams Trust.

In 2004, at the invitation of long-time friends Ann and Dustin Bly, John became involved with Lar Allen Kardec in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This was a school and orphanage in a very poor and violent section of Sao Paulo. In 2005, he visited the facility to meet the children he sponsored right up until his death. In 2008, through a friend and counselor at Lar Allen Kardec who went on to start a complementary education school called Educadores sem Fronteiras (Educators Without Borders), John helped with the translation of their website into English, provided assistance with English-language studies for the students, and helped with the formulation of some of the study programs for the students.

John was instrumental in putting together a collection of photos and documents of, and relating to, Fort Adams from his parents’ treasured collection, which he and his siblings donated to the Fort Adams Trust.

He was also the ‘family historian’ and did much research into his ancestral roots in Ashleam, Achill Island County Mayo Ireland, Key West, Florida and Eleuthera, Harbour Island, the Bahamas.

John leaves one brother: Terence P. Dugan of Portsmouth; two sisters: Maureen F. West of Newport and Sheila M. Enos (Gil) of Riverside, RI. He also leaves three nieces: Jennifer Moitoso (Jeff), Katherine “Katie” Dugan (Tony) and Ashley Nuzzo (Matt); three nephews: Vaughan Dugan (Angela), Paul West and Michael Enos (Casandra); two grandnieces: Abby Moitoso and Kaiden Nuzzo; and five grandnephews: Gregory West, Kevin Moitoso, Gavin Enos, Jaxson Enos, Kieran Moore, Logan Nuzzo and Bassil “Bazz” Dugan. His brothers Patrick M. Dugan and Kevin M. “Shorty” Dugan and his sister-in-law, Barbara (O’Brien) Dugan) predeceased him.

Visiting hours will be held on Sunday, December 6, 2015 from 3:00 – 6:00 pm at O’Neill-Hayes Funeral Home, 465 Spring St. Newport, RI.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, December 7, 2015 at 10:00 am at St. Augustin Church, Carroll Ave., Newport, RI. Burial will be in the Old Post Cemetery at Fort Adams, Newport, RI.

Donations in John’s name may be made to the James L. Maher Center, P.O. Box 4390, Middletown, RI 02842, Women’s Resource Center of Newport & Bristol Counties 114 Touro St., Newport, RI 02840, or to ‘A Wish Come True’ 1010 Warwick Av., Warwick, RI 02888.