Daniel Louis Ducatt was born October 2, 1939, in Defiance, Ohio, to Louis and Cleopha (Bernhardt) Ducatt, and died January 1, 2025, aged 85. He attended St. Mary's Catholic School and Defiance High School, where he played varsity basketball and was active in scouting, earning the highest rank of Eagle Scout in 1954. He graduated in 1957. He attended Defiance College, also playing basketball for a short time as he worked night shifts at Dinner Bell and studied chemistry. He graduated in 1961 and was accepted to the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. In 1963 he married Nancy Lenhart, whom he met while she was charge nurse on the floor at Defiance Hospital and he served as orderly (a hierarchy, he would note with a wry smile, that continued throughout their marriage). They have one daughter, Leslie. Upon graduating medical school, he served a rotating internship at Good Samaritan Hospital, Cincinnati, followed by a residency first in general surgery and then urology. He completed his studies in urology at the Ohio State University College of Medicine. From 1971-1973 Dr. Ducatt served as chief of urology at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, TX, during which time he participated in "Operation Homecoming" for 38 American prisoners of war returning from North Vietnam. He retired from the Air Force at the rank of major and came home to Defiance in 1973 to establish the Defiance Urology Clinic, 1901 E. Second Street. Dr. Dan, as he was known, was active in the community, serving as president of the Defiance County unit of the American Cancer Society, board member of the local YMCA, medical advisor of the Northwest Ohio Kidney Foundation, and a member of the Defiance chapter of Professional Association of Investors when it won a national award in portfolio management. He took over his brother-in-law Benedict Lenhart's practice on 1844 E. Second Street after Dr. Lenhart's untimely death in 1993. Dr. Ducatt retired from medicine in 2005 after 32 years of private practice. In his spare time, he was an irrepressible entrepreneur. Among many other ventures, he established the first Ziebart franchise in town. He loved his family, and at the end of his life considered caring for his wife through decades of chronic illness to be the reason God put him on earth. He took great pride in his daughter and grandchildren, and he reveled in the successes of his nieces and nephews on both sides of the family. Dr. Ducatt is survived by daughter Leslie (Tim) Baynes, grandson Evan (Brittany) Baynes and two great-grandchildren, Charlotte and Ezra, stepson Justin Delph, sister Mary Margaret (Marnie) Weber, and almost innumerable nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his wife Nancy and sister Carolyn Moser. Visitation will be held at St. Mary's Catholic Church on Wednesday, January 8, 2025, from 9:00-11:00 a.m., followed by a Mass of Christian burial at 11:00 am. Schaffer Funeral Home was honored to assist the family with arrangements. Memorials may be given to St. Mary Catholic Church or Hospice of Ohio. Online condolences can be given at www.Schafferfh.com.

St. Mary Catholic Church - Defiance, Ohio
715 Jefferson Ave. Defiance, OH 43512, AL
Tel: 1-419-782-2776
Web: http://www.stmarydefiance.org

Ohio Hospice of Dayton
Dayton OH