HOULTON, Maine — The police community is mourning the loss of a longtime officer of the Houlton Police Department.
Retired Cpl. Dana E. Duff, 66, died on Friday at Madigan Estates in Houlton. Duff served with the Houlton Police Department for 42 years before retiring as a corporal. He trained countless police officers during his time with the force and was widely regarded as a fair and generous officer who was able to diffuse nearly any confrontational situation with his calm demeanor, folksy mannerisms and an infectious smile.
“Dana’s reputation was that he was a fair and firm officer of the law who treated everyone with respect,” Houlton Police Chief Tim DeLuca said of Duff when he presented him with the “Lifetime Achievement” award in December 2018. “His actions had, and continue to have, a profound impact on this department.”
Duff was born Feb. 11, 1954, in Houlton, the son of Carl and Mildred (Cassidy) Duff. He joined the Houlton Police Department on Sept. 1, 1974, starting as a patrol officer and later being promoted to corporal. He spent 42 years with the department, retiring in 2016. Upon his retirement, Duff drove a school bus and mowed lawns for RSU 29.
“I have many fond memories of Dana,” former police chief Butch Asselin said. “You have to realize that every police officer brings something different to an organization. What one officer lacks in particular skill set, a different officer may excel in. Such was the case of Cpl. Duff.”
Asselin, who later served as Houlton’s town manager before taking a similar post in the town of Oxford, said it was difficult to pinpoint just one story on Duff.
“If I had one story to share it dealt with my efforts to get Dana to have more contacts with the public,” he said. “Dana was always an officer you could rely on to perform security checks of downtown businesses at night or to be visible in school parking lots in the morning to slow people down.”
Traffic stops were not his forte. We were experiencing a surge of speeding complaints on outer Court Street which required a police presence. Dana preferred to work the overnight shift which provided him with a window to perform speed enforcement on Court Street before signing off.”
Knowing that traffic stops were not an area of interest for Duff, Asselin said he can still recall coming into work one morning and finding a copy of a traffic ticket on his door that was signed by Cpl. Duff.
“Attached to the ticket was a handwritten note from Dana which read, ‘Chief, I am showing the young fellas how it is done.’ Knowing that was probably the only traffic ticket that Dana wrote for the entire year brought a smile to my face. I appreciated the humor,” Asselin said.
“Before I started my first day, I met with all of the officers to introduce myself and learn about their families and interests. I would go around the room and officers would talk about how many years of service they had, their families, hobbies,” he said.
When I got to Dana and asked him to introduce himself, with a grin he stated, ‘I just got divorced.’ This drew a few chuckles from other officers in the room and quite honestly I didn’t know what to think, but I thanked him and quickly moved onto the next officer. Out of all the things that were mentioned that day, I never forgot what Dana said.”
The former chief added that Duff possessed a command presence and an innate ability to calm a situation quickly by his mere presence. “You can’t teach that skill at the academy,” Asselin said. “It’s the respect that others had for him and it showed.”
A lifelong lover of hunting, fishing, boating and camping, which he shared with his son Luke, Duff also enjoyed sharing time with his many family and friends. He is survived by his daughter, Natasha Barton, and her husband Eric of Rochester, New Hampshire, and a son, Lucas Duff, of Island Falls.
He also leaves behind his brother, Jim Duff, and his wife Eloise of Loxley; a brother, Tom Duff, and his wife Nancy of Houlton; a brother, Dale Duff, and his wife Nora of Bangor; a sister, Carla Duff, and her special friend Laurel “Larry” Farrell of Houlton; and a brother, Peter Duff, and his wife Angela of Bangor.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, a celebration of life will be announced at a later date. Arrangements are in care of Dunn Funeral Home, 11 Park Street, Houlton, ME 04730. Online condolences may be expressed on the Tribute Wall at dunnfuneral.com.
