On September 7th, Daniel Joseph Kaptur passed away at home. Today, October 10th, is Dans's birthday. Dan would have been 54 years old. I thought it would be a nice send off to have this story put out on his birthday. Dan did not want a " traditional" obituary; he wanted something different. As his wife, Jessica Kaptur, I am writing this for him. We didn't have enough time to write this together, but talking with him and hearing about what he wanted to include and not include, I will do my best to make this an epic obituary for him.

Happy Birthday Dan!

Dan was born Cheektowaga New York, where he grew up on Bronx Drive. In his youth, Dan was an amazing baseball player and made the all star team frequently. Living outside Buffalo, he was a Bills fan and Sabers fan going to many of their games. He still had some for the New England Patriots though. His old Patriots winter coat is still on the coat rack! Dan was also a great hockey player. He went hunting and fishing a lot in his youth and adulthood as well. Even after all these years, Dan held on to his very first hunting license. His family also vacationed in the Adirondacks with a few other families in the neighborhood where lots of great memories were made.

There are so many stories to tell. Dan always talked about the amazing neighborhood fireworks displays growing up. He loved getting fireworks for our daughter Harper's birthday and also for the 4th of July. I'm sure most from home will remember him crashing his Pontiac 6000 into a house down the road from his own and getting his snowmobile and truck stolen from a parking lot! However, the ones about hopping the border to Canada to go to concerts (where the drinking age was 18) and snowmobile trips with the guys are probably the best. I also know there were many camping trips that come with some great stories as well. There are some VHS tapes of a couple of those snowmobile trips kicking around here somewhere. They were hilarious to watch. He worked at Motorola and would tell many stories about getting out of work in the morning, going to play golf or head out on the snowmobile and go straight to the bar after. It was easy enough for him to get to the bar since he lived right above it. Gotta give a shout out to Kettle's bar!!

He absolutely loved the band Judas Priest. They were his favorite band ever! Dan kept a little box with guitar pics from Metallica, Motorhead, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Testament and even a wristband that he caught at the concerts. If anyone knows what concert that wrist band is from, I want to know! He was so tall that it was much easier for him to catch those things! He saved all his concert ticket stubs, had a long list of concerts he had attended and even got a picture of Rob Halford back when regular cameras were a thing and before cell phones! He also saw Bob Dylan, Kim Mitchell, Dio, The Grateful Dead and so many more.

Dan was a thrill seeker. He worked hard and played harder to say the least. He liked to go FAST. Whether it be on his snowmobile, mountain bike, motorcycle. There was even a skydiving adventure. He would come to Vermont frequently with his buddies for the great downhill mountain biking and camping experiences. In 1999, he packed his truck, Old Blue, and moved here all by himself not really knowing anyone yet, but his love for all things outdoors gravitated him toward Vermont. Dan got a few different jobs in Killington; cooking at the Grand Hotel and running the lift at Pico and that was perfect for him. He also worked at Johnny Boy's Pancake House, and the Back Country Cafe for many years. He got to be near the Mountain so he would snowboard or mountain bike before or after work. A couple of weeks before Dan passed away, he was looking through some of his old "stuff" and found a calendar where he kept track of the days and conditions of the Mountain. He also kept a tally of his snowboarding and mountain biking days each year. Dan was so funny like that. There were a few years where he got his 100 days in at the mountain.

More recently Dan worked at Castleton University in the maintenance department, Lake St. Catering Country Club as a cook. His final job was at Central Vermont Motorcycles where he worked doing a little bit of everything. He enjoyed being able to be outside in the yard and delivering to various places throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, New York and Massachusetts. Dan had an incredible work ethic. He went to work no matter what.

We met in 2002 on Halloween and finally in 2011 we got married and a couple years later we decided to buy a house and start a family. We found our home in Poultney, Vermont in 2013. Our daughter Harper was born in 2014. Dan sacrificed so much to build the best life possible Harper and myself. He worked so hard to ensure we had everything we needed and still found the time to do the things he enjoyed as well. He absolutely adored his sweetie pie and they did everything together outdoors. He had bought her a bicycle and snowboard before she was even born! When Harper was 6 months old he would push her around on that bike holding her up as long as he could. Then when he stopped she would cry and he would just keep pushing her even though his back was hurting. We had a skating rink in our back yard one winter and he would sit her in a laundry basket and pull her around while he was skating. They went on nature hikes and bike rides together, played catch, soccer, and stuffed animal toss. (He always thought she had way too many stuffed animals) Made leaf piles in the fall, gathered sticks and wood for all day indoor fireplace fires, outside fires and smores. He taught Harper so much in the 10 ½ years they had together. It was also important that Dan did his best to make sure to read to Harper every night that he could. They would swing together on the swing set out back and just be together and talk. That was one of their favorite things to do and they were very fortunate to be able to be outside together up until the day before he passed away. He was the best daddy!

Dan took great pride in maintaining the section of the snowmobile trail that was very close to our house. He also made sure to remind me that I need to return the stakes to the snowmobile club as well. He enjoyed mountain biking on the new trail system in Poultney. He would cross country ski at the Lake St Catherine Country Club in the winter. He was very organized and made sure to take excellent care of anything that he owned. Whether it was his lawnmower, truck, snow blower, mountain bike, motorcycle, snowmobile or anything else he had, it was always in top condition. He kept track of everything. We got Dan a cell phone a couple of years ago. Dan Kaptur, of all people, who said he would never use a cell phone, was finally keeping up with the times. Harper and I had to be patient with him to teach him how to use it. The first time Dan said, "I like the texting," we all laughed so hard. He was definitely able to take some great selfies. He was always sending some GIF to his friends that would make them laugh. Or one they didn't understand! He was able to chat with friends more often and it was great to hear him on the phone laughing about old times.

Dan was an amazing husband. We had a lot of fun; went kayaking together, went to a few cool concerts, went on some vacations to the beach, partied too hard on many occasions. He gave me a life I never thought could have existed for me and honestly one I never thought that I deserved. He helped create our beautiful daughter, Harper Adrian Kaptur who is the perfect combination of the both of us. He was always calm, kind, and patient with me; he accepted me and all that came along with that! I don't know where I would be today if it weren't for Dan.

In late April of this year, Dan was diagnosed with colon cancer after having some pain in his side for only a couple of weeks. He worked right up until he was diagnosed with cancer. It was a shock to us all as Dan was rarely sick, and always active. This was something that we never thought would happen to our family. Something that we shouldn't have had to go through. He was very private about everything and not a lot of people even knew he was sick. Dan fought so hard he never complained even going through chemotherapy. He missed out on the whole summer because he was so sick there were many hospital stays and setbacks and still never complained. Throughout the whole process, Dan stayed as active as his body would let him be. I don't know how he did it. Two days before he passed away, he took the trash to the dump, went to the hardware store and he was even out doing lawn work!

Dan had a unique outlook on the whole situation. It is hard to explain unless you had seen or spoken with him. The only way to even remotely put it into words was that he was almost "Zen" about it. Even that doesn't do him justice. He knew he lived a great life. Ultimately, Dan just wanted to be home with his family, so we made that happen. He accepted his fate long before any of us did. He was at peace with the fact he was going to die, it just was a lot sooner than he had hoped for.

The day before he passed, he was able to spend his final morning with Harper while she sat in the bedroom with him and surrounded him with every single one of her stuffed animals that she could fit on the bed. Like I mentioned before, Dan always thought Harper had too many stuffed animals, but this time there just weren't enough. Then he proceeded to play their final game of stuffed animal toss, where tossed all but one back into the basket; a special kitty cat which he kept by his side the whole time. He sat at the dining room table and had breakfast and took a shower on his own that morning as well. It was inspiring and amazing to witness his fight. He kept his dignity right up until the end, not wanting to burden anyone. With only a little help, he was able to sit outside and take in the beautiful evening knowing that it would be his last.

Dan had many friends in Vermont and back home. He was kind to everyone. Dan was even the best man in two of his friends' weddings. He kept in contact with so many of his friends from home. I think it is very rare to still be connected with so many of their childhood friends and talk to them on a regular basis. That just shows us all what a great person he was and that so many people truly loved him. There aren't too many people who can honestly say that they had a truly amazing life long friend. I believe it is important to mention a few of the special children in Dan's life who loved him very much. They will now have a guardian angel with them for the rest of their lives. We like to call them Danny's girls who were his fan club. Cheyenne Reyne Moyer became the original founding member when I started babysitting her when she was two years old. She would make pizza with him, put his boots on and try to walk around in them. He would take her for snowmobile rides. She would always yell for him to go faster! Cheyenne thought it was "so awesome" that Dan had set up a tent in our bedroom when she had a sleepover. Cheyenne is now almost 21 years old. I know Dan was proud of the person she has grown up to be. Harper's friends Quinn, Molly and Teagnan were the final members of his fan club. They flocked to Dan because he talked to them like he would talk to anyone else and have an actual conversation with them. Of course, he loved being outside with them whether it was pulling them around on the back of a snowmobile on the tarp or decorating a Christmas tree on the porch. His favorite thing was leading Harper, Molly, Quinn, Teaghan and in trick or treating around the neighborhood Dan got so amped up to do this with the kids. They all followed him around like he hung the moon and wouldn't leave him without giving him a big hug. I know for a fact that Dan loved them all so very much.

On September 7th, 2024 at 6:06 a.m., Daniel Joseph Kaptur passed away at home. One of my hands was holding his, and my other hand was on his heart as it beat for the very last time.

Dan did not want a long list of predeceased buys or survived buys listed in his obituary. So if you are predeceased by Dan, you know who you are and are probably catching up on things right now. If you are survived by Dan; if you are a lifelong friend or played a special role in his life in any way shape or form you also know who you are. I don't have don't have to tell you; you are very aware. Whether you knew him as Daniel, Dan, Dano, Big D, Danny, Daddy, Dan the Man or Daddy-O, we all know that there is a void and ache in our hearts that will never truly heal.

So, now I must include a thank you section because there are so many people to thank for your help and support and guidance and prayers and thoughtfulness. There are even people who we have never met that have donated their time and effort to help our family. I am grateful for the people who have come back into our lives as well, those who I have lost contact with who have dropped everything to help. People have come in and out of our lives for reasons we can't always understand. It's the ones who show up and stay from now on that will keep us going. Carrie Hope, Tom and Michelle, THANK YOU! Dan was able to enjoy his last evening outside because of you. And to every member of the Family, THANK YOU! Dano's crew back home, THANK YOU! It is incredible the amount of love and support you have given our family. Dan knows we will always have you in our lives and that if Harper and I ever were to need anything we will be taken care of.

We could not have made it through this journey without our very special hospice nurse Fran. She helped Dan in ways I am forever grateful for; in ways only few can ever understand. She was the one who was holding Dan's other hand the moment he passed away. She fought so hard for us so that we could be together at home and made sure Dan was as comfortable as he could be. She was always there for us when we needed her no matter what time of day or night or morning she answered the call and showed up. Fran Tice, you are a living angel. I also know Dan would like to thank all of the amazing team nurses and doctors at Rutland Regional Medical Center and Foley Cancer Center, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, and everyone at VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region. Dan really liked the pizza he had at Dartmouth and we all know he was very serious about his pizza!

So, this has kind of been a farewell story to honor the truly amazing man Dan was to all of us. It is up to us to continue that story for him. Go outside and enjoy the amazing Fall scenery. This was his favorite time of year to be outside. Play in the snow this winter. Maybe Dan will give us a real winter this year!? Please share a story about Dan. Post a funny picture you might have of him. Drink a beer or take a shot of Jagermeister in his memory. Eat pizza and chicken wings. Keep him alive in our hearts.

Harper and I are not survived by Dan, we are surviving and will continue to live on because of Dan. We are going to be ok, Daddy-O. We LOVE YOU!