He is survived by his wife, Susan Conlon Socha, of Dartmouth, two children, Judy Socha Cox and her husband, Brian, of Harvard MA, and Jeffrey Socha of Boylston MA, and 2 grandchildren, Peter and Sydney Socha of Boylston MA.
Dan graduated from Wilbur Wright co-operative high school in Detroit and joined the Coast Guard Reserve in 1958. After active duty he served a four-year tool & die apprenticeship at Burroughs Adding Machine Company. He worked as a tool maker and machinist until the late 1970’s when he changed careers.
In the time of a new emerging technology he started working for computer companies applying his manufacturing knowledge developing new markets, computer hardware and software products for the manufacturing engineering segment of industry. He also published papers for industry publications on manufacturing. As a part of his job he traveled to major manufacturing plants the world over. Touring the plants and seeing how things were made was one of the highlights of his career.
Dan was a polymath with extensive interests. He was at some level a philosopher, historian, engineer, programmer, craftsman, builder, student and adventurer. One of the maxims he lived his life by was “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, let me do it and I will understand.” He loved self-study and would read extensively about subjects he was interested in.
He loved scuba diving, hiking, snowshoeing, trekking, and did some mountaineering when he was in his 50’s. He also enjoyed motorcycling, kayaking, and woodworking. He tried his hand at oil painting, and did stock and futures trading in which he wrote his own trading system software programs.
After retirement he studied period furniture building and made reproductions. He designed and built his own kayaks. He also studied timber framing and built an addition to his home in that style as well as his own timber frame garage. As a hobby business he built sheds and custom dining tables.
He wrote and published two books, one on woodworking and one on philosophy.
He was an inspiration to all his family and friends who loved him.
“The measure of a well-balance life is to face death with neither fear nor welcome” Dan Socha
Memorial contributions in his honor may be made to Small Dog Rescue of New England at www.smalldogrescuene.org . Arrangements are in the care of the Waring-Sullivan Home at Dartmouth. For online tributes please visit: www.waring-sullivan.com
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