Joseph P. Dorsey Sr., Pioneering Diver and Business Owner

Joseph P. Dorsey Sr., the original owner of the Diver’s Den in Parkville and a pioneering scuba diver in Maryland, died of heart failure in Port Royal, Va. on April 1.  He was 79 years old.

Dorsey, who owned the Diver’s Den for 38 years, the first diving shop in Baltimore, won many awards for his contributions to the diving community including induction into the Divers’ Hall of Fame at the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association convention in Orlando, Fla. 

"He taught thousands of divers, literally thousands," said Ellsworth Boyd, a fellow diver who grew up with Dorsey in the Hamilton neighborhood.

Dorsey, the son of the late Harry Edward James Dorsey and Marie Snyder Dorsey, was born in Prescott, Ariz. Feb. 11, 1934.  

His daughter Michele Rita Engelskirch and a grandson Ronald Paul Zimmerman III survive him, and his wife Jeannie Evans Dorsey and a son Dana Richard Dorsey preceded him in death, according to a notice in the Winchester Daily-Monitor.  

According to an obituary written by Boyd, Dorsey’s diving led him on several adventures including assisting in the recovery of a sunken jet powered seaplane and setting a world endurance record for diving in 1958 at WBAL-TV studios as part of a promotion for the television program "Sea Hunt."

Dorsey, in addition to his diving, was an environmental activist who fought to protect area waterways and was also an accomplished photographer.

"He was an outstanding photographer on land and in the water," Boyd said.