Danilo "Dan" Katich

Danilo Simo Katich, humorist, whistler, flyboy, professor of common sense and accomplished purveyor of the finest scotch or two, passed away on Saturday, September 14, 2013 after waging a valiant fight against cancer. He was 84.

Danilo, allegedly named after the crown prince of Montenegro, was known as “Dan” by friends. Born in San Mateo, California on June 3, 1929, Dan was a product of the “melting pot” as his family emigrated from what is now Serbia through Ellis Island in hopes of a brighter future in America. Dan was a fierce defender of individual sovereignty and American exceptionalism, and equally passionate in winning the heart of the love of his life, Doris Kraljevich.

Dan began his role as a leader at the early age of 16 following the death of his father, Simo. Dan would work after school to support the first woman in his life, Anna, his mother (deceased), along with his younger siblings, Sonja and Peter (deceased.)

During high school, Dan labored at numerous dead-end jobs, including polishing burial vaults; fitting asbestos pipes; and, following high school, navigating the auto assembly line for Dodge. At age 22, Dan was managing hundreds of union auto workers in San Leandro, which quickly motivated him to seek more productive opportunities in military service. As a member of the National Guard, Dan’s unit was put on 24-hour standby for deployment to war ravaged Korea. Those orders, however, were never given and he continued his service stateside at Fort Hunter Liggett.

As a member of St. George Serbian Orthodox church in Oakland, Dan became friends with Boris Kraljevich. His friendship with Boris may have had something to do with his new friend’s younger sister, Doris.

In an attempt to win the heart of the brunette beauty, Doris Kraljevich, Dan worked two jobs to afford a wedding ring impressive enough for her to say “yes.” The affirmative answer came after the third attempt.

Dan and Doris eventually settled down in Castro Valley where both were employed by Pacific Telephone and Telegraph. Dan would eventually rise to management in system engineering.

Retiring from the phone company in 1979 didn’t mean Dan’s work was done. That actually was the starting point of the second half of his productive endeavors. A new career means a new location, so Dan and Doris relocated to the Sacramento area where Dan began a successful career as a Realtor. This eventually brought Dan and Doris to Coldwell Banker in Fallbrook in an effort to be closer to the “kids.” Never considering retirement, Dan remained active in business, closing his last escrow in July.

Dan was the proud father of daughter Janet (Kincannon) of Carlsbad and son Don Katich of Santa Barbara. Both kids followed Dan’s example and worked at various times for the phone company. During a brief period, Dan, Doris, Don and Janet worked for PT&T at the same time. He was affectionately known as “Pop” by his grandchildren; David Kincannon of Carlsbad and Alyssa Katich of Santa Barbara.

Dan loved life, found humor in most situations and was always willing to help those in need. Dan was a private pilot who felt just at home at 8,000 feet as he did in the community of Fallbrook. Described by many as always a gentleman, Dan’s character was guided by a strong moral compass, integrity, and the generous gift of his knowledge. Never shy to engage in political “discussions,” he passionately believed in the boundless opportunities of free people to achieve extraordinary results. Dan believed the most important word in the English language was “freedom.”

Dan never complained about his terminal illness and fought courageously confronting death as he lived abundantly in life. He embodied the definition of a real man.

A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at Eternal Hills Mortuary Chapel in Oceanside, California. Dan’s final resting place will be Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside, California.

Excerpts from the Danilo Katich Memorial Celebration on Sept. 21, 2013.

I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see so many familiar faces come today, here to honor my father.

On behalf of the entire Katich family, thank-you for coming.

Now dad, of course would take issue with all of you being here when you could be working, paying more taxes, pulling weeds out of the garden, fighting global warming alarmists with LED’s, golfing, flying or just enjoying life. And while we grieve his passing, he has left an indelible imprint on our hearts and lives that is truly a cause to celebrate. Later you will have an opportunity to share your favorite Daniloism if you choose.

There are so many wonderful and admirable traits that defined my father. And even at the age of 84, he had more life than most people I know at half the age. I wish to share with you just some of his qualities that defined him as a man, husband, father, friend and patriot.

One of my earliest recollections of my father was sleeping in his arms with my head on his shoulder. To a toddler, he was the biggest, tallest, strongest man on earth. While in his arms, I could see practically the entire world, or at least on that night in the Bay Area, I could see to the front of the stage during a Goldwater for President Rally. Politics were a passion for my father. My father viewed himself as a Patriot, someone who deeply believed in the founding principles of this country of limited government, unbridled opportunity, constitutional rights protecting citizens from the over reach of government and the blessings of freedom. To some this was just Dan being Dan, and they would be right. These principles were etched in stone and not open to compromise for my father. As a soldier who almost went to war, his beliefs in these tenets were invibed in every fiber of his body. And while we can disagree with policy, to dad there was no comprising with principles. For my father, the most important word in the English language was not money, fame, glory… but Freedom. He taught that to my daughter; however Freedom for a 16 year old has a slightly different meaning.

In addition to being a patriot, dad thought of himself as a humorist, always attempting to find comedy in life amidst the chaos. Whenever he would say something potentially funny and no one would laugh, he would always retort with “Did you get it?” It was never the fact that it just wasn’t funny; it wasn’t funny because we didn’t get it. And no one would laugh longer or harder at dad than dad. Put a mic in one hand and scotch in the other, and it was non-stop entertainment. And the cost of admission was a return visit next week.

For some this fact will be of no surprise, my father had balls. In fact he had buckets of balls in his garage. While living on the side of a fairway, he would collect a couple of balls every day from golfers like me who play the right side of every fairway. But collecting those errant objects wasn’t enough for dad; he had to get into the mind of duffers. One day I observed a ball on the lawn. He said “don’t touch it, it’s the decoy.” When golfers look for their ball, dad wanted them to think the decoy was their ball on his side of the fence and thus out of bounds. He then in the evening with a long PVC pipe, with a ball catcher, would reach past the metal fence and collect another dozen. Only dad and his lateral sense humor would think of putting decoy golf balls in his backyard.

Dad was hip on technology, fixing computers on a component level, working for the phone company as a design engineer and iPhoning, iPading in the later part of his life, but most people don’t know is that in HS dad designed and built amplifiers for dance halls and bars. Even though he was underage, dad was the only one who knew how to work and fix his own amplifiers. And it was amazing how on mostly Friday and Saturday nights he would be needed to repair one or two. And at the same time, he received school credit.

Dad also loved his music. Growing up, Dad played the violin and trumpet which also allowed him to be a great whistler and kisser from what he told me. From big bands to the Kingston Trio, Tina Turner to Andrea Bochelli, Dad’s love for music covered many genres and styles, but the one consistent component was that it had to be loud.

My father loved to be busy. He would get up before sunrise, work the stock market, seek to understand world events, educate himself on new listings that would hit the MLS, and pay bills, all before most people get out of bed. He loved Real Estate and loved working at Coldwell Banker. While most people in their 60’s are planning retirement, Dad in his 80s was looking for that next deal. He loved being around young people and when you’re 84 that most people you deal with. Even though Dad had a pension, Social Security and IRA’s, retirement was something for old people, not for him. For dad being a man meant being responsible for your life and contributing to society, not taking from others. Dad closed his last escrow less than 4 weeks before his death. In fact just 5 weeks before his passing, he changed the alternator in the Expedition. He loved keeping his mind in motion, closing the deal, and being successful. Even at 84, he was one of the hardest working and most industrious person I have ever known.

One of dad’s many passions was also one of his greatest accomplishments and that was being a private pilot. Working two jobs most of my childhood, Dad was the provider while mom was the caregiver, with the few extra dollars dad saved for himself, he earned his wings in the early 70s. From day trips to Columbia to week long vacations in Canada, Dad’s love of freedom extended to the heavens above.

You can see my father in his love for his grandkids. There is no generation divide between 84 year olds or 16 year olds… when it comes to hospitals and doctors, both demographics knows more than the doctors. The Monday before his passing, my daughter Alyssa was also admitted into the hospital in Santa Barbara with an extremely high temperature. When hearing the news from his hospital bed, dad wasted no time and called me with his advice… roll the tape.

“Hi, Don, Dad here. I did get your text message, but you were already on the phone with mom. And your first priority now is Alyssa. So don’t worry about me. I’ll get through this and I think I can take care of it myself better than having a committee take care of me. So take care of Alyssa. A hundred and four (temperature) is nothing to fool around with. Bye, love you.”

-- Danilo Katich voice mail to Don Katich, on Sept. 8, 2013 7:03 p.m.

When Dad’s grandson David was 8, “Pop” bought David a rocket to assemble. And directed David to read the instructions and only seek his assistance if he didn’t understand a word in the directions. Keep in mind, these rockets actually use gun powder as propellant and are recommended for teens. David however took the assignment to heart and painstakingly assembled the rocket by himself. Upon assembly, they went into the field and witnessed David’s creation soar to the heavens. What dad gave David that day was not a rocket, but the pride of accomplishing something he didn’t at first believe he could accomplish.

You can see my father through his daughter, my younger sister Jan. Who worked tirelessly during his illness to make sure Dad was given the best care, the proper attention, timely information and did absolutely everything humanly possible to give him the best life possible with the time he had left. She was there holding his hand when he passed.

You can see my father’s love for me when, with my own money, he picked out a car for me in high school. There on the driveway was a fire red, slightly used …. Pinto. “Dad, a pinto?” I said. Son, trust me. And after smashing every quarter panel at least once, it was the perfect first car. The red sports car however would eventually show up on the driveway, but it would be after I moved out and it was dad’s toy.

And Dad, the tree fort you built me growing up, the one peering into my sister’s bedroom, the one you built by hand, without permit, government inspection, title 24, is still standing and was the greatest possession of my childhood.

One of the many things I will miss about my father, are the regular phone calls he would make to update me on world events. Even days before his death, he was informing me of the political situation of the world and of course his commentary. Take a listen…

“Hey Don, I’m just laying here watching CNBC chuckling, so the Syrians have accepted the Russian proposal, ha, ha ha, what a joke.”

-- Danilo Katich voice mail to Don Katich, on Sept. 10, 2013 6:51 a.m.

You can see my father in the love he had for my mother. My dad greatly loved my mother. It truly was a lifelong love affair. In high school, my father had his eye on a brunette beauty, Doris Kraljevich. Hard to believe but in those days, you couldn’t just text or email someone, you had to be more creative. Dad sought out Boris, mom’s older brother and became friends in hopes of getting closer to Doris. After numerous failed attempts to impress her over a couple of years, eventually she got the message and they started dating. Mom was the one playing hard to get, and get her is exactly what dad had in mind. Working two jobs to save enough money to buy an extremely expensive engagement ring, he popped the question. And she said, “No.” After a few months, he asked again, and once again she said “no.” On the third attempt, he added a new twist, he included the line: “this is my last offer,” and a real estate agent was born and a wedding to be planned.

Just two days before his passing in the afternoon while Mom & Jan were visiting with him in the hospital, Jan was fortunate to witness a beautiful expression of love between our parents. Out of the blue Dad said "Doris, I'm sure glad you married me. I've loved every minute being married to you. We've had a wonderful life together." They each told each other of their mutual love.

For over 62 years, they laughed every day, spoiled their kids and grandkids, worked hard, (he) drove fast cars, they lived in the moment and loved each other.

My father touched and influenced so many people, and your affection for my father brings great joy, pride and comfort to our family. It was the honor of my life to be his son.

Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but my father’s love leaves a memory no one can steal.

-- Don Katich, September 21, 2013

When I think of my grandpa Dan, who in our family is known as “Pop”;

I remember: Plier Fingers, real estate, Nico Benovich, politics, aviation, the stock market, Michael Buble, Sinatra, beautiful women, and fine scotches.

Pop was quick-witted, fun-loving, and a highly opinionated man.

He always spoke his mind and cut to the chase.

I remember last I met him at my parents’ house for a family function, I timed it; it took him a full 2 mins and 30 secs before he started talking about Obama. He held out that long (which was a record for him).

Even until his last day, Pop always had a great sense of humor and a keen eye for beautiful women. I remember he grabbed my hand and said excitedly, “David, not a bad looking nurse huh?!!”

I laughed… That’s when I realized what an amazing life this man has lived as a husband, father, grandfather, leader, and a friend to all that had the opportunity to meet him.

Pop… You’re in a better place now, we all love you, and your legacy will be remembered forever…

-- David Kincannon, September 21, 2013

I first met Dan Katich in the spring of 1968. I was starting to date his daughter, Janet, when Jan invited me to have dinner with her parents one evening. I had just finished a stint as Captain of the championship Hayward High Varsity Football Team, and as a Senior, was beginning to prepare for my return to my spot as the starting third baseman for the Varsity Baseball Team. Needless to say, I was pretty comfortable “in my own skin”, as the commercial goes!

So we sat down to have a casual dinner at the round kitchen table, with Dan sitting to my right, and Jan sitting to my left. The first thing Doris put in front of us was a beautiful salad topped with my favorite thousand island dressing. I though to myself, this will be great. “Informal”, “comfortable”, and I’m sure I can carry on an intelligent conversation so Dan doesn’t think I’m a complete idiot! Confidently I stabbed my fork into my salad, only to hear Dan scream “ow”! He turned to me and said, without breaking a smile: “You just squirted salad dressing in my ear and it’s burning!!” From thereon, I don’t remember much of the dinner or the conversation, since I quickly became VERY UNCOMFORTABLE in my own skin! Little did I realize at the time that Dan had the same “dry” “Gemini” sense of humor that I did. After all..our birthdays are only 3 days apart!

Well, as the high school year wound down, Jan and I were practically inseparable. I think it became apparent to Dan that this might be the “real thing” between me and his daughter. That summer Jan had started working for the now defunct Air California in Oakland, and she thought it would be a great idea if she and her parents, her brother Don, and me, all went down to Southern California to go to Disneyland for a weekend. She could get “free” airfare and deals on a hotel. So we all went down and stayed overnight (separate rooms of course!) The next morning we went to breakfast at a restaurant across from the hotel. This time I was “prepared” and did not sit NEXT to Dan! We had a great breakfast and great conversation. I’m sure Dan was “observing” me to see how I had “matured” since graduating from high school. So, to my chagrin, at the end of the meal he turned to me and said: “you want to flip for the check?” Well, my “manhood” was a stake! I wasn’t going to back down from such a challenge (although I think I only had a hundred bucks in my pocket and a credit card with a $200 limit, that was supposed to cover my hotel, meals, and Jan and my tickets to Disneyland). I replied, with great bravado: “You’re on”! He took a quarter out of his pocket, Dan said “call it”, I called heads...and it was tails! He didn’t say anything. He just handed me the check, told me to make sure I left a nice tip, and we headed to Disneyland! I think at that point he knew I was the right one for his daughter!

Over the next couple of years, Dan and I got to know each other a little better every time we met. I was going to college and working at Capwell’s Department Store, and Jan was now working for Pacific Bell. Although I was a “part time” employee, I had amazing benefits, including full medical and dental, which were even better than what Jan was getting at Pacific Bell. When I asked Dan’s permission to marry Jan, he quickly said yes and shook my hand. Then he asked: “Do you have dental benefits at Capwell’s?” I proudly said yes, and went on to explain that they were even better than what Jan was getting at the phone company...why? “Because she needs about $5K worth of dental work! Welcome to the Family”! He laughed and laughed..he cracked himself up!

Of course, there were “serious” moments as well. Many of you may not know it, but Dan really wanted to be a lawyer, and was able to complete one year of law school at night while he was working a full time job, doing television repairs on the side, and trying to support a wife and 2 children. But his family always came first. He never could find the time to finish law school. When he found out I wanted to go to law school, and graduated, and became an attorney, he could not have been more proud and supportive. And he loved it when we discussed the“legal” issues of the day. But, as most of you know, there was nothing that “engaged” him more than discussing the “political” issues of the day! As you alos know, he was fiercely conservative. A bit of an irony, since, at the age of 22, Dan was managing hundreds of union auto workers...and he was a registered Democrat! I asked him one time why he changed parties, and he said it was “right” for him!...cracking himself up...again! And as I look out over this gathering, I see Democrats as well as Republicans. He was respected by both liberals and conservatives.

He has been referred to as “pop” by his grandchildren, but to me he was always Dan. My father, who was 8 years older than Dan, was “Dad”. Dan was closer to my own age, and I think that fact, our “legal” backgrounds”, our non stop political discussions (I’ve always been a “moderate”, and always played the devil’s advocate when I would think he was getting too far off the reservation..if you know what I mean!)...AND OUR LOVE FOR SCOTCH, made us feel more like peers. Although he didn’t smoke, I would occasionally “coax” him into having a cigar and scotch with me in our backyard overlooking the golf course, as we attempted to solve the world’s problems! I think that was how I was able to convince him to move down to Southern California to be closer to his children. I also like to think that, because he enjoyed the “golf course life”, that he decided to find a house with a golf course in its backyard. I know that he enjoyed the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach, when we all stayed in a condo near the course, and on Father’s Day of that year, the last day of the Tournament, he and I had a special lunch at what was then known as Club 19. Oh...and of course, we had a couple of glasses of Scotch!

So it might really have been the SCOTCH that “bound” us together as “Gemini soul mates”. He loved his Scotch, but more importantly, I think, he loved what it stood for. As most of you know, he believed the most important word in the English language is “Freedom”: freedom to drink Scotch, freedom to smoke cigars, freedom to argue politics, no matter what side you’re on, and freedom to love life with “gusto”, while always remembering to keep a sense of humor...by cracking himself up!

Last Friday, the day before Dan passed, Jan told me that the Hospice personnel had come to the hospital to conduct a “briefing” for the family as to the logistics of how they were going to handle his final days at home in Fallbrook. Of course, there was the discussion of who would be there, who would tend to him, how he was to be given medication by the family, etc. Finally, one of the Hospice personnel spoke up and said: “Now Mr. Katich, you should purchase a walker so that you can attempt to get out of bed, and move around sometimes. Dan looked her straight in the eye and said...”Walker...walker...why would I need a walker...I have plenty of Johnny Walker at home!!”

So as we leave here today with our thoughts of what a great mand Dan was, and he touched all of us in such a positive way, the Family has requested that those of you who can, please join us at Dan’s Fallbrook home, with its backyard overlooking the golf course, and if so inclined, have a shot of Johnny Walker in his memory, and toast “Freedom”. But make sure you have a smile on your face when you do!