Loyal Dayne Daubenspeck (1891-1971)

From the Huntingdon Daily News, November 4, 1953.

  Multi-term Burgess (mayor) of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania Loyal Dayne Daubenspeck received a brief mention in the previous posting on Chalender Hall Lesher, who preceded him in office. Daubenspeck was a lifelong Keystone State native and was born on Independence Day 1891 in Bruin, Pennsylvania, the son of the Rev. Richard Perry (1869-1937) and Wilhelmina Daubenspeck (1869-1949).

  While little exists on Daubenspeck's early life, it is known that he married at least twice, his first marriage occurring in 1914 to Edythe Carmon Gage (1896-1984). The couple had one son, Loyal Dayne Jr (1918-2010), who later attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. This marriage ended in divorce and in January 1938 Daubenspeck remarried to June Hanna Bischoff (1899-1984) who survived him upon his death in 1971. Prior to this second marriage, Daubenspeck entered into the investment and brokerage business, serving as Huntingdon district manager for the brokerage firm of Elkins, Morris and Stroud Co. for over forty years, having entered into that post in 1929. 

  In the early 1940s Daubenspeck served as a member of the Huntingdon borough council, and in 1946 was elected as Chief Burgess (Mayor) of Huntingdon. Daubenspeck would be reelected to that office for several more terms and in November 1953 coasted to another victory, besting Democratic nominee William Smucker by a vote of 1,511 to 936. Ultimately, Daubenspeck would serve fifteen years in office, one of the longest tenures of any mayor in Huntingdon history. He was defeated for reelection in the May 1961 Republican primary by Robert Clark, who polled 1,036 votes to Daubenspeck's 609.

  Daubenspeck's final term concluded at the end of 1961 and in January 1962 was awarded a plaque by the Huntingdon town fathers for his long service to his community. He died at age 80 on December 17, 1971, at the J.C. Blair Memorial Hospital and was later interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Huntingdon, the same resting place as Chalender H. Lesher.

Daubenspeck honored with a plaque after leaving office, January 1962.

From Daubenspeck's 1971 obituary.