Stephen M. Dupuy

Steven M. Dupuy 1947-2021

Stephen Dupuy was born on August 1, 1947, in coastal Mississippi, less than two years after the end of World War II, and shortly after the start of the Cold war, events that marked everyone to some degree. He said that he didn’t remember being born, but was willing to take his mom’s word for it. With a few exceptions for government sponsored travel, he lived most of his life near the coast, and except for the first bit, in Florida. The Dupuy family moved to Miami when Steve was young, and he grew up there. The country’s economy was scaling back after the end of the war, perhaps this prompted the move.

In any case, Steve’s early memories were of growing up in Miami, then a sleepy southern town. The family was not rich, and the Dupuy family’s diet was often supplemented by fish from the local canals. Steve said he spent a lot of time outdoors and sometimes got extra money collecting snakes for a local snake research and tourist attraction facility, the Serpentarium. When he was in high school, he worked summers for his father, installing flooring for Miami homes and businesses. Steve developed a good work ethic early, and it stayed with him for the rest of his life.

Steve was proud of many generations of his family that had honorably served in the U.S. military. When he graduated from high school, the Viet Nam war was escalating, and Steve joined the army. After training, he was first sent to Korea, where he served with an artillery company. He said that his most memorable event from Korea was doing guard duty one night when the temperature had fallen to 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, a painfully novel experience for a Florida boy. After completing his tour in Korea, Steve was returned to the United States, and then assigned to serve in Viet Nam, which had escalated to a major conflict that eventually claimed more than 50,000 American soldier’s lives. The year he served his country there impacted Steve for the rest of his life. Like many of his fellow soldiers, the impacts of his time there were on his mind rather than body, but still very real. The country, and particularly the government, was slow to realize that a soldier did not have to have a leg blown off to be injured.

Steve had a lot of stories about his time in Viet Nam, some funny and some very serious. I think that he learned there that there were no guarantees in life, that endings and changes could happen without warning. He often said that all of his life after then was a bonus. Certainly, he lived his life to make the most of all of the opportunities it offered. He posted his collection of service ribbons on the wall for all to see, and on the back window of his car. Like many service men of his age, he visited the Viet Nam War Memorial Wall in Washington. I don’t think Steve had a lot of exposure to guns before the army, but he found shooting to be something that rewarded serious effort to improve, and that he was good at.

During his time in the war zone, he also learned that it could mean the difference between surviving and dying. He had some serious stories about that. An interest in shooting stayed with Steve for the rest of his life. He was not into hunting, and did his shooting at targets, and clay pigeons. During his time in the army, Steve had been trained as a communication specialist, which turned out to involve stringing a lot of communication wires up on poles, among other work. When he was released from the army, he returned to Miami and applied for a job with Florida Power and Light company, the local electrical provider. As a result of the army training, Steve did well on the application testing, but had an issue with one of the qualifications, which was a minimum weight requirement. When the recruiter asked why he was so skinny, Steve told him he was just back from Viet Nam. The recruiter approved him for the job and told him to put on some weight. Steve started as an apprentice lineman, then advanced to lineman, and eventually to line dispatcher. After a position for dispatcher opened in the Daytona office, Steve relocated from Pembroke Pines in Broward county to Palm Coast, where he lived for the rest of his life. Steve had many stories to tell about his years as a lineman, including some practical jokes he played on some of his coworkers, including one with a very accurate fake human head in a bucket. Some of them related to the aftermath of hurricane Andrew, which pretty much wrecked the south half of Dade county in 1992. Most of the electrical power system there was destroyed by the storm, and the FP&L crews were on 16 hour shifts 6 and 7 days a week until power was back on all of the areas that were still intact enough to need power, and most of the areas that weren’t. Steve ended up with a lot of money in the bank because he never had any time to spend the overtime wages. The storm remains the big event in the minds of many in the area, fading slowly with time and the deaths of the survivors. Steve worked for FP&L for about 40 years, in various positions.

He eventually retired on disability due to a combination of on the job injury and PTSD, which had finally been recognized as affecting a number of Viet Nam war veterans. The on the job injury was to his back, which plagued him for about 30 years until his death. Five operations had provided temporary relief but never solved the problem. The continuing pain, particularly in his later years, limited his activities and probably contributed to his too early demise. Despite efforts to improve safety, the job of electrical lineman remains one of the most dangerous in the country. There was a quote from a gentleman who was nearing the end of his time who said, “I spent most of my money on women, booze, and fishing, the rest I just wasted.” If you added shooting, I think Steve would at least nodded his head at the quote. He took great pleasure in fishing and target shooting, believed in having good equipment for both, and maintaining everything in top condition. He worked harder at keeping everything in top shape than anyone else I ever met. He also tried to make the best use of the gear, always trying new methods and ideas. He mostly like salt water fishing, and said he had done enough fresh water when he was a kid. One of the worst curses of his back trouble was that it eventually made it too painful for him to go fishing.

Steve was always a ladies man, which I guess is a phrase that is going out of use, but it still was a perfect way to describe him. He liked to impress ladies and always treated them well. He always was a sharp dresser, and always had a funny story or joke to tell. Steve was polite and quick with a compliment, and generally the ladies liked him back. He sincerely liked most people, and I think that came across to most of those that met him. Steve was married twice. The first marriage ended in divorce after several years, but Steve remained on good terms with his first wife until her death. After his divorce, Steve was involved with a number of ladies, generally to the satisfaction of all parties concerned. If the ladies liked fishing and shooting, all the better. Steve married his second wife, Marcie, and did some world travelling. They went to Maine for whale watching, Alaska for cruising and fishing, and to New Zealand. Judging from the photos they took, they had a very good time. Marcie worried a lot about Steve’s health, with some reason, but in the end she predeceased him by six years.

Steve was a lifelong Democrat and strongly pro union, both inherited at least partly from his parents. After leaving the army, he became strongly opposed to the continuation of the conflict, and took part in several of the local area anti-war protests and other activities against the war. He supported the Democratic party, and proudly displayed a signed photo from Barrack and Michelle Obama on the wall. Steve’s opinion of former president Trump is best left unprinted.

Steve joined the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) when he started work with FP&L, and became active in the organization. He was later elected vice president of the Miami chapter of the union, and proud of this achievement. A lot of his work with the union was to improve working conditions and safety for the workers. After returning from the army and starting work with FP&L, he returned to school, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. Steve believed that knowledge was something to be pursued throughout life, and read widely for the rest of his life, with history, politics, and science being leading subjects.

There were some things that Steve was into over the years that not everyone was aware of. He was an amateur stand-up comic, doing some gigs at open mike clubs in the Miami area. When he got into it, he studied the theory behind comedy, and applied himself to composing consistent sets of comedy routine, that built on a theme over the length of the set. He also got into making jewelry, and assembled the special tools required to assemble pieces out of silver and gems, including a very tiny torch set. Steve also liked cooking, fancier than most men. Steve introduced me to peanut butter pork chops, which really were a lot better than they sound. He liked to try out new recipes, and adjust things until it was just right. He owned good knives, pans, and other implements, and kept them in good shape.

At the end, what we want to know of a person is, was he a good person, did he leave the world better for his time in it? I believe that Steve was a good person, he thought that you should treat other people fairly, and he believed that he owed a duty to the country, and he acted on those beliefs. He was willing to look at a situation and determine if it required him to take action, and to do what he thought was right, even if it was hard. He believed in responsibility, more than many today. That said, he had a sense of humor and liked to make people laugh, and feel good. He made the best of what life offered him, and often said that he had enjoyed a rewarding life. If you were a friend, you knew he was someone you could count on if you needed help. And I think that is what to put at the end. Someone you could count on.

A memorial service celebrating Steve's life will be held at Clymer Funeral Home & Cremations on Saturday, August 7, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. with military honors. A visitation will be held before the service from 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. He will be inurned at Jacksonville National Cemetery.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Clymer Funeral Home & Cremations.