John Dempsey Obituary

John M. Dempsey, 72, of Longmont, CO (and Isabela PR, and East Longmeadow, MA), passed away peacefully on Wednesday, February 5, 2025 in University of Colorado Hospital, after a brief illness. Born in Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth Virginia on Feb 19, 1953, he was son of the late Dorothy (Seaman) Dempsey (USN Yeoman) and the late John J. Dempsey (USN Lt Cmdr. and Attn.). He was raised in East Longmeadow, MA where he was taught golf and skiing by his Dad. He was a graduate of East Longmeadow High School, Class of 1971. After high school, John decided to forgo college (after attending UMass for one semester) and set out on his most incredible life. He was a self-taught auto mechanic, carpenter, plumber and guitar player. He started out building a wooden kayak and began white water slalom racing, eventually buying a fiberglass kayak and racing in the 1973 Olympic trials, failing to qualify by a few seconds. He then built a 31 foot trimaran sail boat from a blueprint in his parent's side yard, eventually completing it in 4 years and setting sail in Mystic, CT. Next he became interested in hang gliding, first buying one, then building his own with improvements. He had the record for longest flight (3 hr and 45 min in 1977) flying along the Mt Tom mountain range in Holyoke MA. He loved flying so much he enrolled in flight training and got his pilot's license in 1979. Then it was on to ultralights....he designed and built the Phantom, which is still for sale today. 42 years later it is still one of the top ultralights and the design has been sold several times. One of the originals is hanging in an air museum in the country of Turkey. In Dec of 1984 he went on a vacation to Puerto Rico, and ended up staying there until 1997. During these years he built a 2 story concrete house on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic ocean and became an expert at wind surfing (placing 2nd in the International Amateur Surfing competition in Feb of 1989), and an accomplished triathlete, winning a triathlon in his age group on Oct 8, 1996 in 2 hrs 8 min. He then moved back to East Longmeadow for a few months before heading out west across the United States in a van that he fixed up to act as a camper. For 8 months he traveled west across southern USA to the pacific coast. Eventually he ended up in Nederland, CO where he skied, and hiked and built another 2 story concrete house. He later moved to Longmont in 2015, where he lived until his death. He worked odd jobs before retiring but continued to stay in great shape, hiking and skiing with his sister Karen, and working out at Planet fitness every day with his friends. He loved watching football and golf, and discussing the games with his brother on their Sunday night calls.

We will miss his passion for whatever he was interested in, and his willingness to help anyone that needed a hand. He personally refurbished many parts of the houses of his parents, sister, and brother. For that we will always be grateful. Rest in peace brother John.

John leaves two siblings, his sister Karen M. Dempsey of Boulder, CO. and her sons Daniel and Gabe, and brother Charles B. Dempsey of East Granby, CT. and his wife Sharon and their daughters Megan, Shannon, and Eileen.

There will be no visiting hours, and no memorial service. Funeral arrangements were made through Greenwood & Myers Mortuary, 2969 Baseline Road Boulder, CO 80303.