PORT ANGELES — Maureen McDonald, longtime owner of Dupuis Restaurant, is dead at 66.
McDonald, who owned the landmark eatery halfway between Port Angeles and Sequim, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer and emphysema, according to those who knew her.
A grieving family member reached last week confirmed McDonald’s death but gave no more information.
The restaurant at 256861 U.S. Highway 101 remains open for business under the direction of Toni Rieger, who worked for McDonald.
McDonald, who was born and raised in Port Angeles, had reluctantly put the business up for sale in September, listing it at $300,000. She cited health issues and a stagnant economy.
She said in January she hoped the next owner would maintain the restaurant she loved.
“It’s been a real gift,” McDonald said.
She began working at the restaurant as a manager about 20 years ago under then-owners Jack and Margaret Plaskett and bought it about five years later, she said in January.
Dupuis has been a landmark for some 80 years. McDonald estimated that it had been open continuously since about 1930.
It was named after founder Joseph DuPuis, who came to Port Angeles around 1918 and worked at the Port Angeles Pulp and Paper Mill, now the Nippon Paper Industries USA paper mill.
