Spider, 72, was a lifelong Saranac Lake resident, village police officer, Vietnam veteran and bobsledder who died Dec. 18 at his home on the shore of Lake Flower. His family was there.

He loved his community, his country, he loved God, they said, and he loved his family.

They loved him right back. This is obvious in the way they describe his eyes when he smiled, the admiration they show when talking about his generosity and the sadness they feel upon his death, as well as in their knowledge that he is in a better place now.

He loved the outdoors, spending much of his life in the woods and on the water.

Dennis “Spider” Duprey served for four years in the U.S. Coast Guard, volunteering to serve in Vietnam for two of those years. (Photo provided)

“He was a true Adirondacker,” his wife Kelly Morgan-Duprey said.

This is evident when his family recalled their favorite memories of being with Spider. Many are centered on hunting, fishing and hiking trips, and the excitement and connection they shared.

Spider and Kelly’s daughter, Jamie and her husband Shawn Rohe reminisced on fond times fishing and hunting.

Shawn recalls on his first hunting trip with Spider that Spider told him he had loved the calm solitude of the woods since he was a child. The wilderness was his escape.

“He loved everything about the mountains, but debilitating health kept him from doing the things he loved to do,” Jamie said.

Blake Rohe, left, is held by his Paw Paw, Dennis “Spider” Duprey. (Photo provided)

He pushed through the pain, though, she added, to spend time fishing with her son, his grandson, Blake this summer.

Spider caught his first walleye ever a few months ago, and shared the catch with Blake, 9, setting the hook and letting his grandson reel it in.

“That was a pretty proud moment for him this summer,” Shawn said. “When the two of them came in with that big fish.”

Spider loved spending time with Blake, who knew him as “Paw Paw.”

“When Blake was born, that was his entire world,” Shawn said.

Dennis “Spider” Duprey loved fishing. (Photo provided)

Jamie remembers telling him he was going to be a grandfather.

“I think that was the happiest I’ve ever seen him in my entire life,” Jamie said. “The day we got engaged he said ‘Where’s my grandbaby?’ So the day I told him, it was just the happiest tears I’ve ever seen.”

Spider’s family was his life, she said.

“He did anything he possibly could to make sure his family was happy and healthy and well-taken-care-of,” Jamie said.

He expressed his love in acts, she said. Jamie and Shawn said there had been an “endless flow” of people reaching out, talking with Spider while he was sick this year and reminding him of all the times he helped them.

Shawn believes Spider was born generous.

Jamie said he did a lot of his giving “behind the scenes,” just sending donations through the mail with no pomp and circumstance. This is an act Jamie said Blake has picked up through watching his Paw Paw, handing Spider his own money to donate and saying “this one’s from me.”

“He left this community a much better place than he found it,” Shawn said of Spider.

Kelly said she met her husband through mutual friends around town. While spending time together they fell in love and started a family together.

“The community they both love, I think, brought them together,” Shawn said.

Shawn said Spider was a good listener and was curious about people’s lives.

“If he met you he wanted to learn more about you,” Shawn said.

Shawn said his father and Spider were old hunting an fishing friends and Spider always made him feel welcome in the family. He was grateful to Spider for helping him travel across the country when his own father was sick, then becoming a father-figure in his life.

“When my dad died Spider stepped in from day one,” Shawn said.

He remembers Spider taking him up the backside of Baker and talking to him about hunting.

“It was like he was teaching his son,” Shawn said. “It was powerful, it’s powerful.”

To many, Spider was known as a bobsledder, a hobby he took to the professional level for seven years of his life.

Kelly said he was recruited because of his speed as a high school track runner. He was a brakeman, the athlete in the back who pushes the sled down the start ramp and jumps in last.

“He was the last one to get into the sled,” Kelly said. “The start is a very important part.”

Spider was the USA team’s number one brakeman for Brent Rushlaw at the 1978 Worlds Championship and also was on the 1985 U.S. Worlds team in Cervinia, Italy.

He loved bobsledding and kept up the hobby while raising a family and working as a village police officer. He was an officer with the Saranac Lake Police Department for 20 years.

Spider served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1967 to 1971, which included two years in Vietnam. He volunteered for the service and patrolled the rivers of the De Nang region.

Spider’s family said there was no “one defining moment” of his life. They say his whole life was defining and he lived with honor and dignity.