George Louis DeNyse
George Louis DeNyse died June 25 at the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Quiogue. The day before, on June 24, he was able to celebrate his 96th birthday with his family. He was born in Brooklyn and lived in Maspeth, Queens, before retiring from the New York City Police Department and moving permanently in 1966 to the summer house he built in Oak Hills in Baiting Hollow.
He is survived by his spouse, Marian Drozd-DeNyse and his children, Judith Miller (Edward Goldstein) and Robert DeNyse and two grandchildren, Adam and Ashley and their mother, Patricia Kenney. He is also survived by six stepchildren, Stanley (Jeannie), Deborah (John), Mark (Theresa), Jane (Richard), Thomas (Jeanne) and Joseph (Cheryl). He was predeceased by his first wife, Violet Raynor DeNyse who passed away in 1975.
Following the Pearl Harbor attack, George enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was trained at the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s famous Pier 88 to be a salvage diver. He was assigned to a floating dry dock 200 miles off the coast of New Guinea in the South Pacific. The mission of the unit was to assist in the docking and repair of battle-damaged ships from the United States and its allies so they could be returned to active service. His dry dock survived a torpedo attack from a Japanese submarine and was able to continue performing a most important role in the prosecution of the Pacific War. George was honorable discharged in 1945 with the title of chief motor machinist mate.
In 1947, George became a New York City police officer and soon after was assigned to the motorcycle division. While there, he received notoriety and several awards for his innovative ideas, one of which was at a special City Hall ceremony where he was honored by Mayor Wagner. His most noteworthy achievement was for the development of a motorcycle speedometer testing machine which reduced the lengthy and cumbersome task of regular calibration of each motorcycle to just 2 or 3 minutes. Calibration could now be done quickly and efficiently on a garage floor instead of a mile-long obstacle free track. This remarkable improvement was later adapted to also calibrate speedometers on police patrol cars. George was later promoted to supervise five special training centers and he regularly appeared in court as the department’s expert witness.
After retirement, George continued to work locally at several positions. He was plant engineer at the Treat Potato Chip factory, worked on the A-6-A fighter plane at Grumman and did oil burner repairs for both Marran Oil and Agway. He regularly volunteered for projects in the Oak Hills Association, where he was president and for Baiting Hollow Congregational Church. George was always available to neighbors and friends – using his mechanic talents and skills to assist them in a variety of ways.
A service will take place at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 14, at St. John the Baptist R.C. Church in Wading River. Immediately afterwards, burial will be at Calverton National Cemetery.
This is a paid notice.
