Daniel D. Strohmeier, of Damariscotta, formerly of Scarsdale, N.Y. and Nonquitt, Mass., passed away peacefully at home on March 15, surrounded by his loving wife Cheryl and family. Daniel was born in Newton, Mass. on April 23, 1911, to Bertram Augustus and Edith Dengler Strohmeier.
Daniel was an avid sailor and cruiser. He received his BA in 1932 from Amherst College, where he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and captain of the swim team. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and went on to MIT where he received his BS in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in 1934. Boats were his passion; after MIT he went to work for Bethlehem Steel, Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Mass., becoming Vice President and head of the shipbuilding division in 1948. In 1951, he bought his first Concordia Yawl and renamed her after his first wife’s father’s schooner, Malay. Daniel campaigned Malay up and down the East Coast over the next 50 years. In 1954 he entered Malay in the Newport to Bermuda race and won the Saint David’s Light House Trophy for best-corrected time and overall winner. The following summer he repeated his triumphs taking overall honors in the Marblehead to Halifax race.
He went on to win many more races. As a member of the American Bureau of Shipping and past President and Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, he was awarded the Vice Admiral “Jerry” Land Medal in 1971 for “outstanding accomplishment in the marine field”. He was a long standing member of the Cruising Club of America, The Ocean Cruising Club, past Commodore of The Storm Trysail Club, life member of the Little Scorpions Club and memberships at the New York Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, New Bedford Yacht Club, the Cabedetis Boat Club of Round Pond, and a long-time member of the Fales Committee at the US Naval Academy.
He built many small boats for his children to sail in the basement of his house in Scarsdale, N.Y.
Daniel was very proud of the fact that he sailed in every month of the year for over 50 years.
Daniel also enjoyed the thrill of flying. His brother Bill taught him to fly on New Year’s Day 1936 in an hour and 45 minutes.
Daniel is predeceased by his first wife of 45 years Marion Ferris Strohmeier of Akron, Ohio.
He is survived by his wife, Cheryl of Damariscotta; younger brother, Bill of South Dartmouth, Mass.; four sons, Danny and wife Mary of Toledo, Ohio, John and wife Lenice of Beverly Farms, Mass., Ray of Ivoryton, Conn. and Rob of New York City, N.Y.; five grandchildren, Seguin, Elizabeth, Cara, Barbara, John, and Richard; seven great-grandchildren, Fredrick, Daniel, Maxwell, Alison, Nicki, Scotty and Rennie; niece, Penni Jenkins of Walpole, Mass.; brother-in-law, Stephen Borowicz and wife Marie of North Dartmouth, Mass., their children and grandchildren; sister-in-law, Madeline Borowicz of Manchester, N.H., and her son.
Memorial service 11 a.m., Sat., June 21, at the Congregational Church of South Dartmouth, Mass.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Bonnell Cove Foundation, 47 Fair St., Guilford, CT 06437-2601.
