Dennis David Dorogi

Dennis was born in Cleveland, Ohio on February 27, 1935 to the late Joseph and Anna Fecek Dorogi and had lived in the Brocton area since 1963. He served in the Army National Guard and attended Ohio University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree and a Master of Fine Arts Degree. He was a respected teacher of fine arts at Blackburn College in Carlinville, Illinois and at SUNY Fredonia in New York. For his master’s thesis Dennis built a concrete play sculpture in an elementary school playground and wrote on the importance of play in children’s lives. His polychrome wooden sculptures are owned in private collections and museums. Retired from teaching, he built his studio, opened a business in Brocton and became widely known as a master craftsman and luthier, building and selling hundreds of finely hand-crafted mountain and hammered dulcimers and psalteries throughout the United States. As he gradually lessened this business he continued a demanding hobby of long interest, the art of restoring automobiles, especially Chevrolet Corvairs. Most recently he worked on a historic auto, a Spyder Corvair once owned by New York scientist Carl Sagan.

Dennis was a founding member of the Chautauqua Crafts Alliance. He was recognized for outstanding achievement as an individual artist in Chautauqua County in 2009. He was also a member of the Niagara Frontier Corvair Club. He was well known at area classic car events and won Corvair Society of America concours senior division status and the prestigious Van Bortel Cup Award. The Smithsonian Air Museum owns his model of the 1900 Wright brothers’ rope-towed glider. This model was used in the exhibit “The History of Human Flight”.

Dennis is survived by his wife Ruth, whom he met and married in Athens Ohio in May of 1961. They were married for 56 years and lived in Brocton for most of those years. He is also survived by sons Mark Dorogi (Kathy Sommers), of Ann Arbor, Michigan, parents of Zoe and Ariel Dorogi, Andrew (Florence) Tsang-Dorogi of Lancaster and Queens New York; Mike (DeAnn) Dorogi of Newark, Ohio, parents of Owen Dorogi; Matt Dorogi (Irina Hentea) of Marlborough, Massachusetts, parents of Natalia and Kaya Dorogi; and daughter Sara Dorogi of Dunkirk, New York. He is also survived by brother Joseph Dorogi and sister Kathleen Neumann, both of Cleveland.

A Memorial Service will be planned for a later date and at the convenience of Dennis’s family. Funeral arrangements were provided by the Morse Funeral Home of Brocton, New York.

To leave a message of condolence or remembrance for his family please log on to themorse funeralhome.com.