John Ralph Danicic

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Danicic, John Ralph Born at home in Warrensville, Ohio, July 21, 1916, and died October 24, 2013, after 97 well-lived years. He is survived by five children: Carol Bowker (Graeme) of Melbourne, Australia; Joan Tyler (Joe) of Saranac Lake, N.Y.; John Jr. (Kim Ode) of Edina, MN; Marilyn Robertson (Dave) of Demarest, N.J., and Paul Danicic (Carmela Nyemetz) of St. Louis Park, MN; grandchildren John, Jennifer, Mark and Anne Bowker; Laurel, Hannah Elizabeth and Joanna Tyler; Austin and Mimi Danicic; Matthew and Joseph Robertson; Asher and Tripp Danicic; great-grandchildren Hudson Bowker and Eloise Bowker. He was preceded in death by his devoted wife of over 70 years, Mary Ann Danicic (nee Bandi) in July 2013, his parents, brothers and sisters and his loving grandson, Michael Graeme Robertson. Enough thanks cannot be given to the staffs and volunteers of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, Parkwood Shores Assisted Living in St. Louis Park, and Golden Living Center in Hopkins for their wonderful caring manner and devoted affection for John. John R. was born to Slovenian immigrant parents. His father was a miner in the old country and, after a stint at coal mining in Ohio, turned to farming outside of Cleveland. The family farmed much of their food, lived without electricity and often shared the harvest with neighbors during the Depression. Significantly, there was a grove of plum trees in the backyard during prohibition. After graduating from Orange High School, he became a gandy dancer for the Erie Lackawanna Railway before joining the Army Air Corps as a pilot after Pearl Harbor. On June 19, 1943, he married Mary Ann Bandi, an opinionated nurse from the Slovenian community. A year and a half later, he was badly injured in a plane crash in liberated France. After spending another year in a body cast that boxer Joe Lewis signed, he was reunited with his wife and daughter and they began a rich era of kids, church and trips out west in a family-famous canvas camper. Though he was permanently disabled from his war injury, he kept moving, graduating from John Carroll University, then working for the Department of Defense and NASA's Lewis Research Center in procurement for the Apollo, Deep Space Exploration and Space Shuttle programs until retiring in 1978. In retirement, he knew the northern Ohio woods and historical sites so well that he advised Cleveland Metroparks rangers. He was also the devoted grandpa who knew everything to 14 grandchildren, never shying away from a marathon tabletop civil war reenactment. In 2007, John and Mary Ann left their beloved Cleveland area to live near their two sons and a grandson in Minneapolis, MN. Their 70th wedding anniversary celebration on June 23, 2013, brought all their children, most of their spouses, grand- and great- grandchildren and friends to a dinner of traditional Slovenian food, grandchildren antics and video greetings from afar. He will be remembered as patriarch of a tight but far flung family upon which the sun never sets, a man of great curiosity, always keeping up with current topics and technology from the telegraph to the iPhone and from the steam engine to Dragon/ SpaceX, and a private man who only wanted good things for his loved ones and all his fellow citizens. Mass of Christian Burial 10:30 AM Friday, Nov. 15 at the Church of the Holy Family, 5900 West Lake Street in St. Louis Park. Visitation 1 hour prior to Mass. Interment Fort Snelling National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: Minneapolis VA Health Care System Voluntary Service - Room 135, One Veterans Drive, Minneapolis, MN 55417 (In the check memo please specify: Attn: Voluntary Recognition) or The Michael Robertson Foundation, 95 Stewart St., Demarest, N.J. 07627. Gearty-Delmore 952-926-1615

Published on November 10, 2013