John J. Dignus, a U.S. Army veteran and longtime resident of Quogue and Hampton Bays, died August 17, 2017. He was 88.
Mr. Dignus was born in the Bronx at the start of the Great Depression and was the younger of two children. Born to Edward and Gertrude Dignus, his early years were spent in the Bronx, and with extended family, spent summers in Quogue and Westhampton.
Although he started out working in New York City for Brown Harris, and later as a construction plant manager at Hohmann and Barnard, it was his love of the water and past summers that led him back full-time to begin his legendary 50-year bartending career.
So it was only natural to start that career at Callahan’s on Dune Road at Shinnecock Inlet in the very building he helped to build with his family in the early 1950s. After 25 years at Callahan’s, he continued for another 20-plus years at Doran’s and was inducted into the Bartenders Hall of Fame in 1990.
He was a staunch supporter and amazing fund-raiser, especially for the Westhampton Beach St. Patrick’s Day Parade, beginning with its founding and serving as its president. He was the grand marshal in 1984 and continued to serve on the parade committee, now celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
He is survived by family—Anne Marie Simmons, Loretta Dignus, Edward Dignus III, Jacqueline Haley, Rick Dignus; and a cousin, Patricia Donovan of Short Hills, New Jersey and Quogue, and her children, Richard Donovan, Mary Joan Buckley, William Donovan; a niece, Lorrie Devine of Hartford, Connecticut, and several grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
Memorial donations may be made to the Hampton Bays Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Burial will be in Quogue.
on Aug 21, 2017