Duane Paul Landreth

Duane “Duey” Landreth was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. The second oldest of 5 children, Duey was an athlete and a scholar. He excelled in track and field and graduated from Parma High School at age 16. He attended Dartmouth College on scholarship and graduated in 1964 with distinction in his major, Economics. While serving in the United States Navy as a department head on a destroyer Duey met and fell for Cynthia “Cindy” Canova. Upon hearing Cindy had multiple offers for marriage, Duey promptly stepped to the front of the line and the two wed August 14, 1971 in Allentown, PA. Always the peaceful cosmic at heart, he spent a brief stint selling leather goods in Philadelphia and then enrolled in Boston University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review. Upon graduation in May 1974, Duey and Cindy’s first child, Kristen Landreth Dean was born and the young family relocated to Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Early in his life, Duey deliberately aimed to protect a healthy work-life balance. Upon receiving an offer in 1976 to move the family back east to the quiet town of South Orleans on Cape Cod, Duey enthusiastically accepted and joined Tom La Tanzi and Larry Spaulding at what is now the La Tanzi, Spaulding and Landreth law firm. Duey and Cindy’s second child, Parker Duane Landreth, was born in 1978. Duey soon realized his dream of raising his family in a place where he could go fishing at dawn, change in to his three piece suit for court and close out the day coaching his kids’ softball/baseball teams.

Over the course of Duey’s 46 years practicing law he initially maintained a general litigation practice, representing clients in diverse types of cases ranging from personal injury, to divorce, to criminal and general commercial disputes. Later in his career, Duey concentrated his practice on municipal and non-municipal land use law, and represented several corporate clients in a variety of business matters.

Always community and civic minded, Duey was a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association and Barnstable County Bar Association and was active in local government, serving as Orleans Town Moderator for 25 years starting in1993.

Duey used to say if he hadn’t been a lawyer he would have been a teacher. But he was one. As his family and colleagues could attest, there was no such thing as a quick question with Duey. You learned to be prepared to settle in for the story to be told, new vocabulary to master or a lesson to be learned. He ascribed to the teach a man to fish proverb. If his children asked him how to spell a word or an unknown concept he would tell them to go look it up in the dictionary or encyclopedia and then come back and tell him what they learned. To his younger colleagues he would provide thoughts and suggestions vs. editing a document just to get it done. The patience to train a child or colleague this way demonstrates his gifts, dedication and extreme regard for all he loved.

Duey was the ring leader on beloved annual family trips to Martha’s Vineyard in the summer and the slopes of Vermont in the winter, corralling all the kids on bikes and skis at first light until the lifts or ferries closed down for the day. Duey loved to watch and talk baseball and while he enthusiastically rooted for the Red Sox, he always remained loyal to his hometown team the Cleveland Indians/Guardians.

It was with great anticipation that Duey became a grandfather and reveled in this role. Young at heart and always down to roll around on the floor, jump on the trampoline or make silly faces and sounds, “DuPa” was up for anything. He taught his grandkids cursive, how to draw scary self-portraits and to his wife’s dismay, silly jingles like “Girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider”!

Most of all Duey adored Cindy. They were married for 54 years and in that time the dedication, love and patience they had for each other was an inspiration to all who encountered them. They shared a love of travel, learning and adventure. And laughter. They laughed throughout their entire marriage, right until the end.

Duey’s legacy and impact are extensive and as his wedding ring inscription to his beloved wife says: Ami Amo Sempre.

Duey is survived by his wife, Cynthia Canova Landreth; his children Kristen Landreth Dean and Parker Duane Landreth (Kristin); his grandchildren Scarlett Landreth Dean and Colbie Turner Dean and Teddy Parker Landreth; his siblings Linda Langermeier (Keith), John Landreth (Jay), Jim Landreth (Ruth), sister-in-law Sheryl Landreth and brother-in-law Philip Canova; numerous beloved nieces, nephews and close friends. Duey is predeceased by his parents Violet Turner Landreth and Harry William Landreth Jr.; his father-in-law Remo Canova and mother-in-law Verna Canova; his brother Mike Landreth; and his son-in-law Bradley Scott Dean.

Services to be offered at a later time. In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that donations be made in his memory to the Animal Rescue League - Brewster Shelter.