Danny Dennany

Danny Dennany was always his own man, who found his own path to follow through life. Danny was self-taught and self-made, but also the most selfless man you’d ever meet, who happily would offer all he had to those he loved. He was a hardworking man, a loyal brother, loving uncle and faithful friend. Most of all, Danny was a man who knew that self-worth has nothing to do with net worth, a lesson he taught everyone who knew him.

Danny’s story began on a hot summer day in 1931, in the bustling city of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Those were such dark days in this country, which was caught in the grip of the Great Depression, affecting every American family. Yet on August 2, 1931, the Dennany family found reason to celebrate, with the birth of a baby boy, a son they named Danny.

Danny was the fifth of seven children in the family, though one of his brothers died as an infant. Danny joined siblings Michael, Robert, Juanita, Lola-Rita and David in the family’s home at 136 Millview Avenue in Kalamazoo. His father was a hardworking man, who worked at Allied Paper, and his mother cared for the home.

Danny grew up to be a tall, lanky young man, but also a great athlete. He was an accomplished ice skater, and often spent winter afternoons skating on Bryant Mill Pond, not far from his home. He also was a hardworking young man like his father, and after school as a teenager he’d head over to Playmore Lanes to set up bowling pins. Danny was always a very intelligent man, and could keep track of three player’s scores simultaneously, while he set up the pins, too!

Danny graduated from Kalamazoo Central in 1948, and found work around town at various jobs. Eventually he became introduced to the trade of roofing, which he immediately enjoyed. After learning all he could about the profession, Danny set out on his own in 1955, creating his own roofing business, called Dennany Roofing.

It was hard work being a roofer, out in the hot summertime sun and the cold, snowy winters, but Danny loved the freedom of being self-employed, and enjoyed the camaraderie he felt with his crew. He mostly worked at the job sites and would coordinate everything from home, making sure all went as planned. Danny worked as a roofing contractor for nearly 40 years, before finally retiring in 1993.

Though he never married, Danny always found plenty to occupy his free time, and was far from all work and no play. In fact, he loved music, and there wasn’t an instrument he couldn’t play — all by ear, to boot! That’s the kind of man Danny was, though, enormously gifted in so many ways. Things just seemed to come naturally for him. He had a voracious appetite for learning, and even taught himself the Greek alphabet! Danny read hundreds of books, on a wide variety of topics, and loved to read anything he could learn something from.

Danny also enjoyed reading science fiction, or writing poetry, too, with a great creativity inside him. He wasn’t a man who sat and watched TV much, although later in life he did enjoy watching a baseball game or old movies.

Danny also enjoyed spending time with his family. He was very close to his siblings, and even lived with his brother David for awhile over the years. He was especially close to his great-nephew Nicholas, and was like the boy’s surrogate father, even taking him in for a time. Danny was very proud of Nicholas.

Danny was a remarkable man in many ways, a very inquisitive, thoughtful person, who took an interest in others and in their well-being. He was enormously charitable and generous, and would give you the shirt off his back, or a roof over your head whenever you asked. All of Danny’s nieces and nephews would get a card in the mail on their birthday, stuffed with leafy-green cash. Whatever he had, he willingly gave to those around him, though. That was Danny, self-made, yet selfless.

Danny was also a very spiritually-minded person, in his own quiet way, and was a member at St. Joseph Church and the Legion of Mary, as well. Faith was always the undercurrent running through his life, the spring from which his charitable nature flowed.

Later in life, in the late 1990s, Danny began developing kidney problems, as well as other health issues. Sadly, Danny died on Tuesday, July 31, 2007.

Danny was a wonderful man, self-taught, self-made and selfless, who worked hard for everything he ever had, and so generously gave it to those around him. He was a hardworking man, a loyal brother, loving uncle and faithful friend. Most of all, Danny was a man who knew that self-worth means so much more than net worth, one of the many lessons he taught us, lessons that live on today in all who knew him. He will be greatly missed.

If you loved Danny you will rejoice because he has gone home to the Father. As the deer longs for the streams of water, so did Danny’s soul long to see the face of God. His moment came Tuesday, July 31, 2007. In the eyes of the world Danny died poor, for throughout his life he gave what he had to others. In the eyes of heaven he died rich, for everything was given to God. Learn more about Danny, view his life story film, and visit with his family and friends on Friday from 6:00 – 8:00 PM at the LIFE STORY FUNERAL HOME, Betzler, Kalamazoo 375-2900 where a rosary will be recited at 7:30 pm. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Saturday, 10:30 AM, St. Joseph Church with burial taking place in Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Danny was preceded in death by 3 siblings, infant brother, Michael, and Robert. Member’s of his family include 3 siblings: Juanita “Betty” Smith, Lola-Rita Agner, and David (Marilyn) Dennany all of Kalamazoo; 28 nieces and nephews, 70 great nieces and nephews, 46 great great nieces and nephews and several cousins. Please visit www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a memory or photo of Danny, sign his online guest book or make memorial contributions to Fresenius Medical Care (F.M.C)