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Editor’s note:Each Sunday, The Herald-Mail runs “A Life Remembered.” Each story in this continuing series takes a look back — through the eyes of family, friends, co-workers and others — at a member of the community who died recently. Today’s “A Life Remembered” is about Dennis Joseph Reese, who died Feb. 1 at the age of 61. His obituary was published in the Feb. 4 edition of The Herald-Mail.
BOONSBORO — Melanie “Mel” Reese thinks her husband’s life might make for good material for a Nora Roberts novel. A Boonsboro native, Dennis Reese’s life was all about love and laughter.
“Wherever Dennis was, laughter followed. He never went anywhere he couldn’t make people laugh,” said Mel, recalling how his laugh sounded like a seal barking.
Everyone who knew him, knew how much he loved his hometown and firefighting. His life revolved around keeping his beloved community safe.
It’s not lost on his family and friends that his death came near the anniversary of the Inn Boonsboro fire.
The fire started on Feb. 22, 2008, when a propane tank attached to a heater was knocked over and damaged, and the propane ignited. Workers were nearing completion of the restoration of the historic inn at the town’s square, which is owned by Nora Roberts and her husband Bruce Wilder.
A life member of the First Hose Co. of Boonsboro, Dennis, along with Fire Chief Oley Griffith and other members of the volunteer fire department had talked about how they would handle a fire on Boonsboro’s Main Street, if there was one.
Mel said Dennis’ twin daughters, who are now 29, were staying with them when Dennis was shoveling snow in front of their home down the street and saw smoke billowing out of the inn. It was the first time the girls had seen their father in action.
Griffith said when he arrived on the scene and realized the magnitude of the fire, he knew it was going to be a trying day.
With Dennis on the ladder truck, Griffith said he knew the town was in good hands while waiting for neighboring fire companies to report to the scene.
“I knew I had the right person on the ladder truck that day,” Griffith said.
Dennis was a charter member of the Boonsboro Ambulance and Rescue Services and was one of the people who got the Great Boonsboro Carnival started, Mel said. He served on the Boonsboro Park Board for several years.
“He loved this town and serving it,” Mel said.
Dennis, whose love for firefighting dated back in the 1980s, also helped start a fire station in Rohrersville, one of an endless list of accomplishments made on behalf of the community.
While he made downtime fun, Dennis was all business when there was a call. He was also good at “flipping a switch” between being a friend and a work supervisor.
“Dennis was a friend, but he was a great colleague at work. I was just fortunate to know Dennis as a coworker, friend and fire chief,” Griffith said.
Once a Warrior, always a Warrior
Dennis graduated from Boonsboro High School in 1975, a Warrior through and through. A drummer in the high school band, he was especially proud of being selected as drum major his junior and senior years.
Mel said if Boonsboro High teams made it to state competitions, she knew they would be traveling to the playoffs.
While in high school, 18-year-old Dennis took the Civil Service exam and was offered a job as an accountant for the Bureau of Standards in Gaithersburg, Md., now known as NIST. He worked at that job for a short time before going to Fort Detrick.
The woman who lived next door to the Reese family on Main Street offered to sell Dennis her house, an offer he couldn’t refuse, even though he was only 18.
Mel said they had been researching the history of the home and the more they dug, the more excited Dennis got. They discovered connections to Francis Scott Key, which was of particular interest to Dennis, who loved the American flag.
Dennis was given a hero’s sendoff, complete with bagpipes. His funeral procession, with at least six emergency vehicles, took about 20 minutes. Great attention was paid to making sure that the flags were displayed properly.
“It was fitting. That was Dennis and his life. We wanted to respect him in the right way,” Griffith said.
“Dennis was a big part of what we accomplished. Some people you don’t replace. He was one of those guys I could rely on.”
A match made in the fire service
Dennis met Mel at work, but they didn’t start dating until at least 2006. She worked at Fort Ritchie until it closed in 1998, then transferred to Site R for two years, then to Fort Detrick in 2000.
He was a captain with the Fort Detrick Fire and Emergency Service, and Mel was a fire inspector and firefighter.
Mel drove the engines and said whenever Dennis was the officer on the call, she knew they were in good hands. He earned the nickname “Captain Chaos” because of some of the crazy calls they ended up on.
“He shared his trade. He was a great mentor,” Mel said.
They started dating not long before Dennis, who was divorced, retired in 2007. He was 50 and had 32 years of service.
The mandatory retirement age is 57, but Dennis had a dream that he should retire at 50. His own father had passed away at age 46.
Dennis managed to keep his proposal plans a secret from Mel, which is an accomplishment in the fire service. They were on a bus trip to Yankee Stadium on July 5, 2008, for an Orioles-Yankees game, cheering for different teams.
He was a Baltimore Orioles’ fan. Mel’s team is the New York Yankees, and Derek Jeter was her favorite player.
Jeter was at bat when the announcer read Dennis’ proposal: “Melanie B, will you marry me? Buster says it’s OK.”
They were featured on the Jumbotron and with the approval of their dog Buster, a Puggle (pug-Beagle), Mel said yes to the proposal.
In the excitement of the news, the newly engaged couple missed the end of the game, because they went back to the bus to call family and friends. Mel’s team prevailed that day.
Mel describes their Oct. 3, 2009, wedding as a tour of Boonsboro. Dennis got ready at his home and Mel got dressed at Inn Boonsboro.
The wedding ceremony was held in Shafer Park, with Buster as co-best man, and the newlyweds honeymooned at the inn.
Mel said they are the perfect example of opposites attracting. They are a house divided when it comes to sports teams — Dennis is all Maryland and Mel roots mostly for Pennsylvania teams.
Their marriage was filled with joy and laughter and a shared love for their work. Dennis’ sense of humor, jokes and pranks were ingrained in his personality, which matched Mel’s.
Mel said when friends shared stories about adventures with Dennis, no one could finish the stories, because they were laughing so hard.
“Hard belly laughing,” Mel said.
Mel’s large extended family fell in love with Dennis, and he embraced them. Mel said her cousins gathered regularly and after she married Dennis, dates were selected based on Dennis’ availability and the menu was tailored to his preferences.
After his retirement, Dennis went back to work as a fire-alarm technician at Fort Detrick as a contract worker.
Dennis loved taking his daughters to Twinsburg, Ohio, for the Twins Day Festival, which is described as “the world’s largest annual gathering of twins.”
Mel said the girls always came first. Katie Pendergraft of Stephenson, Va., and Kellie Reese of Falling Waters, W.Va., had the same middle name, Jo, after Dennis’ middle name, Joseph.
The girls played soccer from age 4 through high school, and Dennis was “on the sidelines or behind the goal cheering them on at every game,” Katie and Kellie wrote in an email.
He was there for all their milestones, from their Boonsboro High School and college graduations to walking them down the aisle to the birth of the three grandchildren, who called him Pappy.
Dennis loved teaching them crazy dances and the occasional inappropriate word. He had their footprints tattooed on his arm several months ago.
And whether it was a cornhole game, camping trip or picnic, there was sure to be laughter involved when Dennis was around.
A big kid at heart, Dennis loved going to Disney World and that was the last trip he and Mel took in early December 2018. They had plans to go for the Fourth of July this year.
Even in her grief, Mel finds some peace.
“He knew,” Mel said of Dennis’ sudden, unexpected death.
“His dad died early. He lived life to the fullest. Every day counted,” Mel said.
Griffith said emergency-services personnel have to be professional, but there are certain addresses that come across the scanner that make him stop in his tracks. That’s how he felt the morning Dennis died.
“Dennis left us probably with three lifetimes worth of stories and laughter. He definitely had a heart of serving. I love our love story, because it truly is that,” Mel said.
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