Obituaries

R.I.P. Sgt. Scott A. Duus (Ret.), 58

A viewing for the late Collingswood police sergeant and firefighter will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight and 9 to 10 a.m. Friday at Foster-Warne Funeral Home.

Services will be held Friday morning for the late Scott A. Duus, 58, of Maple Shade and formerly of Collingswood, who gave 25 years of service to the Collingswood Police Department and a second lifetime in hours to its fire company as well.

As reported in a notice by Foster-Warne Funeral Home, Duus passed on Jan. 20:

Beloved husband of Denise Duus (nee Mullen). Dear father of Melissa, Elizabeth and Charles; and grandfather of Brandon. Loving son of Jeanne and the late Charles Duus. Brother of Nancy (Arthur) Watson, Charles "Randy" Duus, Steven (Barbara) Duus and the late Keith Duus. He is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

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To enjoy only seven years of retirement after a 25-year law enforcement career seems an unkind end for the man who used to play Santa Claus at the Cumberland Mall, especially for one so fondly remembered by colleagues.

Mayor James Maley, who had worked with Duus since around the time he was first elected, said the retired Sergeant was “just a great guy; a great cop.

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“He was always a great guy, did his job well, and was really a pleasant, enjoyable person to be around,” Maley said. “He was enjoying retirement the last time I saw him.”

Det. Sgt. Guy DeRitis remembered Duus as “a big teddy bear” whose kindness was equaled only by the depth of his knowledge of police work.

“There was nothing about the law book that he didn’t know,” DeRitis said, and yet “even the people that he arrested, it seemed like [Duus] did it with a smile on his face.

“He would lock people up and say, ‘It’s not personal, buddy.’ That’s the kind of guy he was.”

After retiring from the Collingswood P.D. as a Sergeant, Duus took a job driving for the NJ Transit Access Link. He belonged to the F.O.P. Lodge #76, Audubon-Parkside Lodge #218 F&AM, Excelsior Consistory Scottish Rite and Camden County Emerald Society.

Duus' viewing will be held 7 to 9 p.m. tonight (Jan. 24) and 9 to 10 a.m. Friday (Jan. 25) at Foster-Warne. A mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish—St. John Church in Collingswood, with interment at the Calvary Cemetery in Cherry Hill.

The Duus family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Scott's memory make a donation to their favorite charities.


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