10/21/2024

David J. Dutcavich

Date of Death: August 18, 2024

David J. Dutcavich, 70, of Minersville, died unexpectedly on Sunday.

Born in Philadelphia, he was a son of Gloria Montello Dutcavich, Minersville, and the late John J. Dutcavich.  He was a graduate of Nativity B.V.M. High School, and enlisted in the U.S. Navy shortly after high school.  He spent 6 years on active duty, serving aboard the USS McCloy (FF-1038) and the USS Schofield (FFG-3).  Dave was privileged to have visited over two dozen countries during port calls in both ships.  After discharge from active duty, he served in the Navy Reserve at Centers in Hazleton, Avoca, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Reading.  He served in several ships and Navy facilities, including Bethesda Naval Hospital and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, retiring as a Chief Hospital Corpsman in 1992.  

He graduated from Penn State where he studied clinical engineering.  He worked briefly for Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI), Plymouth Meeting, and later worked in the Clinical Engineering Department at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore.  

He was also a graduate of Catonsville (MD) Community College where he studied mortuary science.  He returned to Minersville in 1982 to join the funeral service business founded by his father; and derived lifelong satisfaction from serving hundreds of families in their time of grief.  He was active in funeral service associations, having served as vice-chairman of the legislative committee of the Pennsylvania Funeral Directors Association and as president of the Lebanon-Schuylkill Funeral Directors Association.

In addition to his Naval service, he was involved in public service on numerous levels.  A life member of the Minersville Good Will Fire Company, he was a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for over ten years.  

Dave’s principal hobby was politics, as it gave him an outlet to exercise his argumentative side – something rarely revealed to his funeral service clients.  

He served as a Deputy Coroner for 20 years before being elected Schuylkill County Coroner.  During his single term as Coroner, he reduced the budget for that office by 26%.  He was also the first Coroner in county history to establish formal training for field investigators and the first to become nationally certified by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators.  While these accomplishments were beneficial to the taxpayer and to the office, they were a source of annoyance to both a local pathologist and a local minister, both of whom worked feverishly – and successfully – to prevent his re-election by lobbying law enforcement and by writing letters.  

He also served as Mayor of Minersville from 2002-2010; and was instrumental in negotiating two police contracts without resorting to arbitration.  His approach to local government was to apply common sense in the decision-making process; and to avoid passing local laws that restricted the freedom of residents.  

Finally, he served as Schuylkill County Prothonotary from 2012 to 2019, during which he worked with multiple departments to provide greater access to County records.  As chairperson of the Records Improvement Committee, he redirected Records Improvement Funds from “candy jar” funding for various offices toward improvement of public access to archived records.    

Along with Ken Breiner, an Orwigsburg funeral director, Dave was most proud of his service with the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner after the World Trade Center attacks in 2001, working with OCME staff and family members to assist in identification of victims of the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11.  

Proud of Minersville, he provided support to numerous organizations.  During his second term as Minersville Mayor, he donated his mayoral salary to the Minersville Swimming Pool.  He told horrible jokes and enjoyed pranking friends and family.  He also gave generously from his Prothonotary salary to various local causes, including the Minersville School District, the Minersville Skatepark Association, the Lehigh Valley Hospital, Schuylkill Auxiliary, Schuylkill Women in Crisis and the United Way.

Beyond that, he had a personal passion for coffee drinking and an occasional glass of good Scotch.  Dave’s love of music was instilled during his time at Penn State by one of his life mentors, James W. Beach.  His accidental introduction to Broadway during his service in New York City led to an appreciation of theater, which also led to his ardent support of theater productions at Minersville Area High School, which also extended to Pottsville High School.  

In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by his first wife, the former Deborah Watson, on Christmas Day, 1995; a brother, Daniel; a nephew, Richard Pizzo; a niece Melissa Watson Bugbee.  

Surviving in addition to his mother are his second wife, the former Arlene Botek, who tolerated his relentless teasing for 14 years; four children, Vincent Dutcavich and his wife, Lauretta, Fairfax Station, Virginia, Christina Shannon and her husband, Colin, Pennsburg, James Dailey and his wife, Ashley, Clayton, NC, and Erica Dailey, Harrisburg; four grandsons, Brennan and James Dutcavich and twins Caeden and Caleb Shannon; three granddaughters, Anna Grace Dutcavich and Lyla and Ryleigh Dailey.  He is also survived by four remaining siblings, Diane Pizzo and her husband, Richard, Barnesville, Denise Crum and her husband, Thomas, Morrisville, Karen Myers, Mechanicsburg, and Gary and his wife, Beth, Lake Wynonah; 26 nieces and nephews – each of whom was also tolerant of incessant teasing as a young child by their Uncle Dave.  

The family will accept visitors on Friday from 5:00 P.M. at Dutcavich Funeral Home, 200 Sunbury Street, Minersville.  There will be no public calling hours on Saturday. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Saturday at 10:00 A.M. in St. Michael the Archangel Church, 539 Sunbury Street, Minersville.  Interment with military honors will be in St. Francis of Assisi Cemetery, Branch Township.  The family prefers contributions to the Dave Dutcavich Vacation Fund which will, in turn, forward all contributions to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in support of Breast Cancer research.  Visit www.dutcavich.com.