Daniel Joseph McCanna

Daniel Joseph McCanna a loving husband, amazing father, dedicated son, incredible brother, loyal friend, and Champion of God passed away on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 at the young age of 55 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his loving family who will continue to honor his legacy throughout their lives. Dan was born in Joliet, IL on December 15,1965. He graduated from Joliet Catholic High School and received a BS degree in Business Management and Administration from the University of South Carolina. He was a Regional Business Development Manager, LabCorp. He started his medical career with US Surgical and has worked in the OR as well as Burn Units in NC, ATL, FL and TX. Dan’s focus was to excel at any business endeavor he was engaged in. The success of his business career is testimony to his dedication to whatever business task he was dealing with. Dan served as President to the Marcus High School Golf Booster Club for two years, was a greeter at Holy Infant Catholic Church in Durham, NC, known as the Doughnut Man for the 8:00 am mass at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, FL, coached his son’s basketball team and was assistant coach for his son’s soccer team. Dan spent a lot of quality time with his son, Nolan on the golf course pursuing their mutual passion for golf. He was beyond proud of his son Nolan’s commitment, dedication and always giving 100% in everything he does.

Dan and DonnaMaria met in a limousine. Dan was waving it down, the driver informed her, she rolled down the window and told Reggie the driver, “sure, pick him up”. A year and a half later they were married and Reggie was their limousine driver. They fondly nicknamed him, Reggie the Love Limo.

Dan and DonnaMaria loved to travel to tropical places and spend time on the beach and in the pool by themselves and with family and friends. Their all time favorite trip was to Italy with family. The Piazza Navona is their favorite piazza. Dan was dedicated to his religion, family, work and sports. Love of family, all sports, both participating and watching on TV. Played baseball in high school and college. He loved a cold brew on the beach, in the pool and in the hot tub. At a wedding, you could always find Dan dancing to, “I’m too sexy for myself.” Dan excelled at Bocci, tennis, baseball and golf. He might have been Irish but he always said, “I’m IBM….Italian by marriage.” When the song Bye, Bye, Bye by N-Sync would come on many times you could find Dan dancing to the Bye…Bye-Bye part. The Big Bang Theory always made him laugh as well as SNL. One of Dan’s and DonnaMaria’s sayings is, “It’s not over until the Fat Lady Sings and she hasn’t sung yet!” Dan would often say this when he was watching his Son Nolan in a golf tournament. Dan was a caring, dedicated and supportive husband and father that would do anything for his family. Dan fondly nick named his wife Curlee and she fondly nicknamed him Lt. Dan from the movie Forest Gump. Nolan fondly nicknamed him, Big Daddeo. Dan was smart, intelligent & hard working. He always lived life to the fullest with a lot of passion. He just loved to always have a good time and not sweat the small stuff. Dan lived life the way he battled his cancer with determination, strong willed, a fighter and never gave up on anything. He was very handy and could fix anything. He was a jack-of-all-trades. Upon meeting Dan, you quickly gained a friend. He was fearless and was never afraid to try something new. Nothing could hold him back. He was very quick witted and down right funny! It was the type of funny that made you shake your head. The one-liners made you say, where did that come from? Throughout it all Dan never lost his sense of humor. Dan was full of advice in every category in life, he always had an open ear. Anyone who knew him, knew that they could count on him for anything. He loved his family endlessly. Family first & family is everything. He was an amazing family man. An incredible son, brother, and uncle. He loved DonnaMaria and Nolan more than anything. He would always want to know what his nephews were involved in and celebrated all their successes. Sitting around the pool enjoying a beer and cooking out were some of the best times we had. Throwing the parties in high school the moment his Mom & Dad pulled out of the driveway. He loved a good game of uchre and horseshoes with his high school buddies. With Dan’s many years of experience and training in the medical field, his family would frequently refer to him as Dr. Dan. He was always available, even in the middle of the night for calls. Dan epitomizes the saying that “Only the Good Die Young”. He’s one that was taken way too soon. His true legacy is that of a deeply loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend.

Preceded in death by his mother Kathleen (nee O’Leary) McCanna, Dan is survived by the love of his life, his wife, DonnaMaria, whom he married on September 19, 1992; son Nolan , father Bill McCanna; brother Patrick McCanna; sister Colleen Skala; mother-in-law Barbara Esposito; father-in-law Gene Esposito; sister-in-law Dawn Esposito;

brother Patrick: wife Carey (Bouman) McCanna and nephews Kevin, Sean & Brendan; sister Colleen Skala husband Tony Olivo and nephews Matthew and Eric Skala.

Dan's family set up a scholarship fund for their son, Nolan, and have requested that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the scholarship fund which will help him complete his Aerospace Engineering degree. Donations can be made through Venmo: @DonnaMaria-Esposito-McCanna.

Thank you for supporting this family in one of the hardest times of their lives.

A celebration of life with a prayer service at 2pm for Daniel will be held Monday, August 2, 2021 from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM.

Memorial masses will be held at a later date in Joliet, IL at the Cathedral of Saint Raymond and at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, FL for family and friends to celebrate Dan’s life.