Daniel Janis

Daniel Michael Janis, Jr., of Sun Prairie, Wis., died on July 2 at home, surrounded by family. He was 69.

Dan was born in St. Louis and grew up in the city's Soulard neighborhood, near the Anheuser-Busch brewery where his dad worked. As a child, he used to ride the bus to Sportsman's Park to see the Cardinals play, including one memorable game where he spent his return bus fare on a treat and then and tried to sell his half-eaten box of Cracker Jack to an usher to get back home. Fortunately, the usher just gave him the bus fare.

He played football and baseball at McKinley High School and eventually found himself eating lots of steakburgers at a Steak 'n Shake where a cute, smart classmate worked as a waitress. He would linger to offer her a ride home after her shift ended. She became his wife, Sharon, and they were married 49 years and had two children, "Danny" and Angela, together.

But before he could marry his high school sweetheart, the Vietnam War intervened. Assigned a low draft number, he decided to take fate in his hands instead and enlisted in the Army in the spring of 1967. Intelligent and strong, he completed the Non-Commissioned Officer Candidate Course in Fort Benning, Ga. It was a Vietnam-era program developed to alleviate shortages of enlisted leaders at squad and platoon level assignments, training enlisted personnel to assume jobs as squad leaders in combat. Dan arrived in Vietnam as a sergeant and served with the U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division.

He didn't talk in specifics about his service in Vietnam, other than one harrowing night when his unit was pinned down in a hut, running low on ammunition and knowing they wouldn't get reinforcements until morning. He was sure he would die that night, and he did have buddies he lost during the war, but one day a helicopter suddenly landed in a rice paddy and told Sgt. Janis he had five minutes to pack his belongings. His dad had suffered a heart attack in St. Louis and wasn't expected to survive, and Sgt. Janis was being sent home. Dan walked into his dad's hospital room in his Army uniform with the dust of Vietnam still on him; his dad applauded from his hospital bed.

His dad did survive for seven more years, and thanks to some lobbying by Sharon to U.S. Senator Stuart Symington, Sgt. Janis completed his Army career in Missouri, driving military officials around the state. He and Sharon married while she was a student at Washington University, and when their son Daniel Michael Janis III, or "Danny" came along, he attended daycare on campus while his mom completed her degree.

Meanwhile, Dan pursued a career in the insurance industry in a management capacity for firms including Continental, Kemper, Economy Fire & Casualty, St. Paul and MetLife, in cities including Denver, Salt Lake City, Springfield, Ill., Lincoln, Ill., and Freeport, Ill. After retiring from MetLife, he and Sharon relocated to the Madison area to be near their daughter, now Dr. Angela Janis, and because Dan was receiving his medical care through the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital there. They nicknamed their new home "Bird Haven," because of Dan's love of birdwatching from their screened-in porch along a wetland.

Other things he loved included corny jokes, Abbott and Costello movies and old Westerns, and watching boxing matches and St. Louis Cardinals and Blues games with his children and their friends. He was a mustard aficionado and had a taste for pretzels, popcorn and pickles. He enjoyed reading books about history, especially about the American West and military. He was a close follower of politics and current events, and traveled with his daughter Angela to Washington D.C. several times, including to attend John Stewart and Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear." He also visited the Vietnam Wall there. And since Vietnam interrupted his college education, Dan proudly finished his bachelor's degree in 2007.

Ever kind, patient and optimistic, Dan never had a harsh word to say about anyone and was always the first to offer to help - whether it was packing up the car, cleaning up a kitchen, moving a piece of furniture or paying a bill at the restaurant.

The joy of the last decade of his life was his granddaughter, Hannah. They shared a love of silly jokes, card games and quiet cuddles. He was the type of grandpa who got down on the floor to play and who didn't mind having his hair "done," even if it ended up in pigtails. In the last weeks of his life, confined to a hospital bed at home with a liver disease he believed was tied to Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam, Dan was still sharing jokes and stories and drawing every ounce of joy from life.

He is survived by his beloved wife Sharon; son Daniel Michael Janis III, daughter-in-law Tara Burghart and granddaughter Johanna (Hannah); daughter Dr. Angela Janis; sisters Marilyn Dodson and Linda Wiles and brother-in-law Rick Wiles. He was preceded in death by his parents. A memorial ceremony is planned later this month at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the National Audubon Society or the Gary Sinise Foundation.

Cress Funeral Home
1310 Emerald Terrace
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
608-837-9054