Dennis Roger Narehood passed away quietly surrounded by family, on Friday April 19th, 2024, from heart-related issues. Dennis was born in Lewisburg, PA, on September 3, 1942, and lived his first years in Milton, Pennsylvania. He was the older of two sons to Glen L. and F. Emmeline (Rogers) Narehood. Dennis grew up hating his early September birthday, because it meant it was time to go back to school.
Dennis was quick to laugh, respectful, curious, well-read, and quick to help underdogs. Beyond the people he loved, Dennis loved open water, ducks, books, good food and drink, and of course, computers. His younger brother, Richard, said they had quite different personalities. When Dennis fished, it was to spend time with his brother, not necessarily because it was one of his hobbies. While Richard liked boats and ships for the adventures they carried him to, Dennis enjoyed sailing itself, and learning the workings of various boats or ships. When on the many road trips with their parents, Richard would be looking out the window nonstop, and Dennis usually was reading.
Dennis was a voracious, lifelong reader. He loved science fiction, especially Isaac Asimov, Anne McCaffrey and George RR Martin. He also loved westerns and military fiction, from the Master and Commander series to maritime, Tom Clancey, spy, and World War II chronicles. This passion for books continued throughout his life, and in retirement Dennis volunteered a few hours per week at the Ocean County library.
As boys, Dennis and Richard always seemed to have animals. A couple notable dogs were a small black and white cocker spaniel named Kipper, and a half-collie stray their mom named Chrissy after Chrystal Martin, a Milton girl who had become Miss Pennsylvania. Their Uncle Howdy gave the boys two ‘male’ rabbits one Easter, which became a crazy number of rabbits. The rabbits would burrow out of their exercise pen area attached to their hutch, and many hours were spent on rabbit roundups. Lots of neighbor kids got baby bunnies as gifts. The Narehood boys caught, rehabbed, and released a barn owl, a crow, a raccoon, and even a pigeon that refused to leave after being released. Other pets included a Texas horned lizard, a guinea pig, a pair of flying squirrels, a box turtle, and a pair of Budgerigars (parakeets), that produced hatchlings thanks to Mrs. Narehood’s loving care. The entire Narehood family loved animals.
Dennis’ parents were quite civically involved in making Milton a safe place for kids to grow up. Emmeline helped with fundraising for Milton’s first public swimming pool. Behind the Narehood home there was a large four bay garage with an equally large, paved driveway, built to be the home and launch pad of Narehood Brothers Trucking. While the Narehood boys were in high school, the family hosted teen dances in the backyard driveway, complete with DJ. Refreshments were prepared and sold by volunteers to raise money for a community swimming pool.
Dennis started college at Penn State, then transferred to Pierce College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. While in Philadelphia he began dating Barbara Hedenberg. She was also from Milton, a class year apart in school, so they’d known each other as classmates while in Milton, but didn’t date until she was a nursing student in Philadelphia and he was, a student in Pierce College. Dennis and Barbara married in 1965.
Once married, they moved to Mt Laurel, NJ, and had two children, Brian and Adrien. Brian is a graduate of Drexel University, now lives in Pittsburgh, and Adrien is a graduate of the University of Vermont, now lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
When Dennis started working after college, it was for the Presbyterian Minister’s Fund, which has the distinction of being chartered as America’s first insurance company, dating back to 1719. He had several companies he worked for, but it was the company name that was shifting, not Dennis. In his 30 years there, Presbyterian became Covenant became Provident Mutual became Nationwide.
When he went to work for Presbyterian, their office faced Rittenhouse Square in downtown Philadelphia. The computer he managed was a huge full-room IBM 360 mainframe. And it was his baby. At one point, a young woman working there had a jealous ex-boyfriend storm in. The man was raging, almost psychotic, and when staff wouldn’t let him talk to her, he declared the package he’d set on the desk was a bomb. Dennis grabbed the “bomb” without hesitation and ran out with it to get it away from where people might get hurt. And maybe the computer. A newspaper ran an article about the episode, praising Dennis’ swift and brave response.
Dennis’ work followed the computer industry through the years, from mainframes to desktop computers. Meanwhile, the company hopped from midtown Philly to Berwyn to Newark, Delaware. Working in Berwyn was the worst, because it involved a long commute each way from their home east of Camden thru the heart of Philly and out the west side, on what Philadelphians call the ‘Sure Kill Expressway’, a narrow busy freeway crammed in next to the Schuylkill River. Dennis worked for them his entire career, retiring in 2002. Barbara had worked first as a neonatal nurse, and then as a visiting nurse, where she would visit mothers and new babies a few days after birth, confirming the baby’s vital statistics, and quietly noticing / helping women if additional services seemed needed.
Dennis’ father and uncle started Milton Transportation, and his dad loved to drive. So Dennis’ childhood vacations often were road trips. Dennis saw a great deal of America in his youth, and he and Barbara continued to enjoy traveling throughout their lives. They visited Jamaica, St Thomas, St Croix, Nassau, and when in the tropics, Dennis liked snorkeling. They went to world fairs in New York and Montreal. They also saw all 50 states, Greece, Puerto Rico, the Mexican Riviera, and Alaskan glaciers via an Alaska family cruise. On their travels, Dennis kept circling back to Bryce Canyon, which was his favorite. He visited first as a child, and several more times over his life. Dennis’ wish was to visit Bryce one more time, and the family plans to fulfill that wish later this year to spread his ashes there.
Their fondness for vineyards and wine started with a book called Wines of America. They took to touring regional vineyards (Pennsylvania, New York) and visiting wineries with Richard, who had moved to California. They got to visit vineyards in Napa, Sonoma, the Russian River valley, and Santa Barbara. Enjoying wine sometimes came without a corkscrew, and Adrien remembers seeing wines opened with coat hangers and pocket knives. In the powder room off their den, they decoupaged labels of the wines they’d drank: Regional and California on the left, and European and Chilean on the right. (Richard’s wife Gloria is originally from Chile and enjoyed sharing some of Chile’s best with Dennis and Barb). When in wine country, Dennis preferred merlots and zins but wasn’t opposed to cabs, whites, and anything else from a vine. Dennis also liked good beer, preferring IPAs, Trappist ales, and sours. When his daughter Adrien moved to Idaho Falls, she got involved with the North American Brewers Association competition, and for ten years he traveled to Idaho to help steward that competition. Summer or Winter, as they made their way across the country to see grandkids in Idaho and his brother in California, Dennis would use breweries as milestones. Dennis loved Mexican food and would usually look for carne asada or chicken mole on the menu.
Dennis and Barb loved being on the water. Long before they dated, an early memory Barb has of Dennis and his family was of a motorboat they’d use on the Susquehanna River, and of Dennis teaching her to water ski. After they were married, they learned how to sail through a series of night classes and bought a small sailboat. In the first outing, they capsized it multiple times because they’d not checked the radio weather forecast before going out. This also meant they got pretty good at righting a tipped sailboat.
They bought their shore house in a ‘keys’ subdivision of Bayville NJ called Berkeley Shores in 1983, and moved from Mount Laurel to Bayville permanently around 2006 after tearing down their modest shore house and building their dream house on the same waterfront lot. Over the years, they owned 2 larger sailboats (a Diller-Schwill DS 16’ built in Canada, and a Rhodes 22’), a Chris Craft powerboat used for water skiing, and a couple smaller craft like the Sunfish their children Brian and Adrien became adept at sailing. They owned sailboats until their 70’s, when the rigging got to be too much. After selling their last sailboat, they had a Carolina Skiff power boat. Their boats were often named Noon or Noontide or similar names because, try as he might, Dennis couldn’t get the family into the boat early when the water was smoother. It always seemed to take until noon.
Dennis and Barb owned and rescued Basenjis, a small African bark less, breed of dog (however they could howl and yodel quite well). They saved dozens of them over the years. They would scoop up abandoned or orphaned dogs, get them healthy, interview new families (because basenjis need kids to respect boundaries, etc.), and drive over about nine states to do all this generous and satisfying work.
They both retired in 2002 (first Barbara and then Dennis). In retirement, Dennis abandoned suit and tie in favor of jeans and cargo shorts, with t-shirts or western shirts depending on the season. Once retired, they dove more into caring for ‘rescue’ dogs and finding them good homes through Basenji Rescue and Transport (BRAT). Dennis continued to work with computers. He would gather computers and parts, take donations, and then fix them up and give them to seniors or disadvantaged students, and help with repairs or upgrades if people could pay the cost of parts.
They continued with the Coast Guard in earnest. Dennis and Barb helped with the US Coast Guard Auxiliary for 15 years, first doing inspections and safety education, supporting the coast guard, and eventually serving as flotilla commander for the Auxiliary Flotilla, 5th Northern Division.
Dennis was “ODie” to his grandkids. That’s O as in Older-than, D as in Dirt. He loved sunrises, and would often sneak out in the morning to a nearby beach to watch one. Barb says remember him when you see a good one.
Dennis is survived by his wife Barbara Narehood, his brother Richard & wife Gloria (Reed) Narehood in Los Olivos, CA, son Brian Narehood in Pittsburgh, PA, daughter Adrien & husband Darryl Davidson in Idaho Falls, ID, and grandchildren Ella, Mar, and Julien.
In lieu of flowers, Dennis has asked for donations to Associated Humane Society (https://ahs.givecloud.co/give - or 1 Humane Way, Forked River, NJ 08731), to Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust (http://weblink.donorperfect.com/SSLTdonatenow - or 109 N Arthur Ave #300, Pocatello, ID 83204) or to the Museum of Idaho (https://museumofidaho.org/donate - or 200 N Eastern Ave, Idaho Falls, ID 83402).
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