Daniel "Dan" M. Macre Sr.

Dan Macre of Clearwater Florida, passed away on November 20, 2023. Dan was born in Washington, PA. Dan was preceded in death by his wife of 72 years, Babe Macre, his Mother and Father, Mary and Ralph Macri; brothers Tony Macre and Sam Macre, and sister Rosemary Fairchild (Macre). He is survived by his children Dan Macre, Jr., Sheila Macre-Coppridge, five grandchildren, three great grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Dan and his wife came to Florida in 1950 on their honeymoon. The honeymooners fell in love with Clearwater and the beaches and soon returned with little more than the clothes on their back. Dan worked as a carpenter and soon branched out to create a company with a friend, Frank Valentino.

The company, then known as Macre-Valentino Construction, was booming with the growth of Pinellas County in the 50’s. Dan wanted to pursue commercial construction and Frank preferred residential construction. Frank moved to Boca Raton where he had a successful career. Dan pursued his commercial contracting career in Clearwater as Macre Construction, Inc. in his office on Gulf to Bay Blvd and eventually moved the office to Hercules Avenue.

Early on Dan did work all over the state building numerous “Mister Donut” franchise locations. Dan built many iconic office buildings in the area, strip malls, did work for the Pinellas County School Board, churches for the Catholic Diocese, and many of his buildings are still in use today.When the Pelican Restaurant on Clearwater Beach burned down, Dan was chosen to construct the new restaurant at the location on Mandalay Avenue by owner, Henry Henriquez.

A few notable projects included Sam’s Club at Gulf to Bay and US 19 in Clearwater, Pelican Walk Shopping Center, Clearwater, Beach. Dan expanded the company late in his career and opened an office in Tallahassee Florida. One of the more prominent buildings in the panhandle was Lucille Moore Elementary School for the Bay County School Board. He also did work for the State of Florida.

Along the way he did occasionally build a home. He built one of the most inspiring homes at 2115 Belleair Rd which received reviews in architectural magazines and was in the Tour of Homes. When the children were grown and gone, Dan built a beach home “on the sand” on Eldorado Avenue, Clearwater Beach. In his later years he built one of the largest homes in Pinellas County on Willadel Dr, Belleair, featuring nearly 13,000 square feet...

Dan was a member of the Clearwater Touchdown Club. He went on many trips all over the country with other businessmen from Clearwater. He extolled the stories of Mr. Heilman and Frenchy arguing over who had the best restaurant. Dan was also a season ticket holder of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from day one.

Dan was an avid sports car enthusiast. He owned a Triumph in the late 50’s, As his business grew he moved up to Corvettes in 1965, which he purchased at the Dimmit Chevy/Cadillac dealership in downtown Clearwater. Over the years he owned many Corvettes. One year he bought three Corvettes. Of the three, one he did not like the color, another he did not like the engine, and the third one was just right! In 1976 he bought a Ferrari 308GTB, similar to the Magnum P.I. Ferrari. Some of the other cars he owned were DeTomaso Mangusta, Pantera, Porsches, Mercedes SL600, Maserati, Jaguar and many, many others.

Although Dan had beautiful homes that he built for his wife, his second home was Clearwater Country Club. He loved the game of golf, and played every chance he could. He was a member of CCC over 50 years. He had 13 Hole-In Ones. Most of the aces occurred on holes 7 and 15.

Dan was a Navy veteran and served aboard the USS Frank Knox (Gearing Class Destroyer). His ship was deployed to the western Pacific war zone as part of Task Force 38. He was awarded the”American Defense Medal”; “Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal”; and “WWII Victory Medal”, before receiving an honorable discharge.

Dan’s ashes will be interred at Bay Pines Cemetery alongside his wife, Babe. Some of their ashes will also be sprinkled on Clearwater Beach, the most beautiful place in the world that they loved so much.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sylvanabbey.com for the Macre family.