Reginald William Dyche, 81, of Belfast, Maine, died on April 27, 2025. He was born in Detroit in 1943, where his father, Lawton William Dyche, worked for Ford Motor Company, which had been converted to military production during World War II. At war’s end, the family moved to Chattanooga and then to Logan County, home of his mother, Gertrude Ballance Dyche. Reggie graduated from Russellville High School in 1961. He earned a B.S. in Industrial Arts Education from Western Kentucky University. Following service in the U.S. Air Force, he had a brief residency in Brazil, teaching mechanical drawing and photography at the Escola Americana de Campinas.
Returning to Kentucky, Reggie’s talents as a woodworker, house builder, and master furniture maker were in high demand. In 1976, he and his sister established Colony House, an antique furniture and gift shop in Russellville. In 1982, he was hired to build a major exhibit at The Kentucky Museum in Bowling Green where he met Deborah Smith, his loving companion for all the second half of his life. They married on March 4, 1984. A year later while vacationing in Maine, they purchased land at Wards Cove on Pleasant River Bay where Reggie built a summer cottage that became their favorite home.
Reggie had a passion for ships and the sea and loved to spend time on the water. Having completed with honors the certification course at the Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design in Kennebunkport, Maine, Reggie worked for boatyards in Camden and Tenants Harbor before closing out his career with Bruce King Yacht Design.
A grand maritime adventure was sailing a 44-foot ketch, the aptly named Caprice, from Door County, Wisc,, through the Great Lakes, up the St. Lawrence River, around the tip of the Gaspe, and back down through the Gulf of Maine. It was a 5-month voyage that far exceeded the extent of previous day-sailing on Lake Ontario in a 19-foot Lightning sloop that Reggie had completely restored while living in Rochester, NY.
Reggie is survived by his wife Debbie of Belfast; his sons. Reggie, Jr. (Shannon) and Jason of Rochester; his sisters, Marguerite Kirkpatrick and Carol O’Brien of Russellville; his nieces, Shannon Reade (Wes) and Kelly Orndorff, plus their children and grandchildren, making Reggie a great-great uncle. Frankie, the beloved family cat, also mourns the loss of The Man with whom she shared her purrs and gently pushing paws for the past 10 years.
A private service will be held at Wards Cove in June. Those who wish may make a donation to a library of their choice in memory of Reggie, a man whose many, many books always meant so much to him.
Summers and Son Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.