His Service at 11 AM at St Ignatius Church, will be web broadcast. To view broadcast starting about 10:45 Am on Friday, July 16th 2021, scroll down past the bottom of this Obituary and click on the ARROW that will appear to start the broadcast at the appointed time. If can also be seen in repeat mode after 12 noon on Saturday.
DANIEL A. NELIS
It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of Daniel A. Nelis “Dan”, a beloved family man, friend, social club member, community volunteer, and American Veteran. At 78 he died surrounded by his loving family in his home on July 7, 2021 after a brief battle with an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer. He was born in Reading, Pa on June 4, 1943. He grew up on South 6th St. and attended St. Peter’s school and Parish and Reading Catholic High School where he played basketball, was a paperboy, and delighted in mischievous activities with his neighborhood friends, joining the U.S. Air Force shortly after. He met his loving wife of 54 years at the candy counter in Pomeroy’s department store when she winked at him not knowing he worked in the next department. Always the provider, he hustled at many jobs including salesman, bartender, pilot, and flight instructor ultimately finding is true passion as an entrepreneur co-founding The Bagman, among other businesses before his final venture Promotional Products Etc. that he continued to run semi-retired until his untimely death. During his entrepreneurship Dan re-enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a reservist where he traveled the world transporting military and presidential equipment, made lifelong friends, and was awarded many honors before retiring with the rank of Senior Master Sgt. All the while being devoted to his immediate and extended family with his energetic time, advice, and care. He loved to engage people with fun stories, educational quips, or just to get to know them. He was a longtime member of the Quiet Birdmen pilot’s group, prior president of the AOH Boyertown Division, and a Mountain Springs Association supporter. He enjoyed travel, playing weekly rounds of golf with his buddies, great food, good Scotch, music, throwing amazing parties, nights out with family and friends at the YR Club and Fish Pond, and family events where he loved to dance. As Dan grew older, he tried to find humor in everything including going to his chemo treatments wearing his infamous “party socks”. His wanderlust for life allowed him to experience more than he could ever imagine for himself. Dan is preceded in death by his parents Thomas J. and Sarah., and sisters Roseanne (Lacey), MaryEllen (Silverstein), and Carol (Dodson), and brother Thomas “Sonny." He is survived by his beloved wife MaryBeth (Steingraber) of Wyomissing, Pa, and the proud father and “Pop-Pop” of their children and grandchildren Bridget and her partner Bryan Finkel, Maggie and her husband James Arentz, and their children Catherine, Maureen, and Cassidy, Patrick and his wife Jessica (Wolf) and their children Caitlyn and Cooper, and Christopher and his wife Alaina (Esterly) and their children Oliver and Annabelle, along with numerous in-laws, nieces, nephews, and cousins here and in Scotland that were dear to his heart.
A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish, Reading on July 16, 2021, at 11 AM. Visitation with the family will begin at 10 AM which will be web broadcast. Burial service will take place immediately after the service at Gethsemane Cemetery, Laureldale, with full US Air Force Military Honors. The family would like to express its heartfelt thanks for the wonderful care given by the McGlinn Cancer Institute, Tower Health Reading Hospital, and Heartland Hospice. In lieu of flowers friends may make memorial contributions to St. Ignatius Loyola Memorial Society at stignatiusreading.org, the McGlinn Cancer Institute at readinghospitalfoundation.org , and/or Heartland Hospice at 2201 Ridgewood Rd., Suite 180, Wyomissing, PA.19610.
Arrangements entrusted to John P. Feeney Funeral Home, Inc. 625 N. 4th Street at Centre Ave., Reading, PA 19601, 610-372-4160.
SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW WEB BROADCAST OF HIS SERVICE AFTER 10:45 AM ON FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021
