Dan Maine
In more than a decade that these Spotlight articles have appeared in most of our monthly NEWSLETTERS, a certain distinction falls to Dan: unless we mixed up our records somehow, he is the last of the Charter Members of the Council to be interviewed.  Dan lived for a time in Marshfield and remembers his wife’s uncle being a member of the Knights of Columbus, and his father-in-law was also involved.  Due in a great part to their influence, he joined the organization around 1979, advancing in Marshfield through the Third Degree.  He has occasionally thought about the Fourth Degree but has not actively pursued it to this point.  It just so happened that a neighbor named Ron Frosch talked to him about transferring to Council 10243 as a Charter Member as the new Council was getting started around 1990.  In the time that he has been with our Council he has taken part in some of the usual activities that bring our men together—booyah, brat stands and the like.  He hopes to become more active in the future.   

Originally from Torrance, California, Dan married a Wisconsin native named Melanie whose parents lived in Rhinelander.  When college rolled around he ended up at Mount Scenario College in Ladysmith.  In college he earned a degree in Political Science and English.  After college he spend a considerable amount to time—over twenty five years—working for Wausau Insurance.  Though he officially retired a few years ago, he’s still in the business, currently working as Director of Insurance and Risk management for the Menominee Indian Tribe in Keshena.  His days are very busy, dealing with insurance placement and benefits and a lot of the paperwork that such a business can generate.  He deals with several sorts of insurance—health, life, dental and the like.  He notes that he had been looking forward to retirement, but it didn’t end up as he had planned it.  He has also served at St. Bernard Parish as an Usher. 

In his free time he enjoys going to a cottage up north and taking advantage of the opportunities for hunting and fishing.  The cottage, near Ladysmith, was spared from damage done by a tornado that passed through the area last year on Labor Day.  He observes that it was fortunate that it was not another usual workday when the tornado struck as a great number of people could have been killed or injured.  The part of town that was most severely damaged was pretty quite for the holiday.  He also likes to travel when there is the opportunity, but he says that opportunity hasn’t presented itself much lately.  Dan also has coached when his children were involved in soccer and basketball.  His wife, Melanie, teaches at Christa McAuliffe School.  He and Melanie will be celebrating their Thirtieth Wedding Anniversary in May—he remembers graduating college the day after his wedding.  They have two children—a son who is a student at UW-Stevens Point and a recently married daughter who has found her niche in a Starbucks in Milwaukee. 

 

December 2003