It all began in the fall of 1986 when I first met Dan at a Vant family function.  I had started to date Sherly, his wife's sister.  He was very welcoming and made me feel completely at ease.  Dan had a way about him, that smile, it just filled up the room.  He made you feel that you were special!  That is a gift given to just a few.  I soon learned that he was special in a lot of ways.  His intellect and reasoning went well beyond his formal education, making him a vigorous debater.  He loved his family and his boys uncondiionally and always put them first.  I soon found that we had a lot of things in common, including our love of the outdoors and fishing.  Needless to say, we became "Best Friends" almost immediately.  We started a tradition of our annual fishing trip (s).  He treated me with that special love and inclusiveness that most people reserve only for their families.  Over the next 30 years we  spent thousands of hours fishing all over Honey Harbour, Lake Nipissing, Sudbury and places north.  Finally in 2008 we got our own bass boat.  We named her the "Double D", for the two Dan's.  She had all the options you could want on a fishing boat, down riggers, bimini top, live bait wells.  We spent hundreds of hours in comfort, fishing our favorite places.  We talked extensively about every subect imagineable.  Sometimes we would sit there in complete silence, completely immersed in the beauty around us.  Neither of us feeling the need to fill the void.  We had a deep, unquestioning friendship.  Both of us knew we could depend on one another.  Dan Jr started joining us and then we were the three "D's".  What wonderful, memorable times we had together.  He gave me the opportunity to experience the kind of friendship that, if we are lucky, we get to experience once in our lives.  I tried to make it a habit when we were preparing to say our goodbys each year to give him a big hug, to tell him that I loved him, and to give him a peck on his balding head.  He would look up at me, give me that special 'shy' smile, and say 'me to'!!  I will miss him so, he leaves a huge hole in my life that will be impossible to fill.  I have a lifetime of memories as my solace and that picture, forever emblazened in my mind of Dan's welcoming smile.  Rest well my friend, I will miss you!!  Your fishing buddy,

Dan