Daniel Powell McCann, veterans affairs retiree

Daniel Powell McCann, 73, of Newark passed away Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, at Christiana Care Health Systems. He was born in Nassawadox, Va., Dec. 28, 1945, and was raised in Delaware, son of the late Harry W. McCann and Carolyn M. Brunner.

Dan majored in history at the University of Delaware. He graduated in 1967, having completed Army ROTC and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He served on active duty in Alaska.  Post service, after teaching a year in the Delaware prison system, he began his career in the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department. During that service he experienced progression to more responsible positions and authority at multiple duty stations, including Philadelphia, Vietnam, and Washington, D.C.  Following early VA retirement, Dan relocated to Washington State, before returning to Delaware to care for his mother.

Dan, and his sister Becky, spent their early years in Sussex County living with their mother close to Ocean View and their grandparents, Sadie and Bill Powell.  Dan remained a beach resident at heart, vacationing countless weeks and weekends in Ocean View, maintaining and improving the 1901 cottage, the family artifacts and history. Dan and his mother recently donated that house, now known as the Evans-West House, to the Ocean View Historical Society.

In addition to his parents, Dan was preceded in death by his sister, Rebecca McCann in 1999. He is survived by his two brothers: Gerald Brunner of Newark and James Brunner of Bluffton, S.C.; as well as his nephew and niece; and two great-nephews.

Services were private.  Arrangements were handled by Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, Lewes.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Dan’s memory to the Ocean View Historical Society, PO Box 576, Ocean View, DE 19770.

Please visit Dan’s Life Memorial Webpage and sign his online guestbook at www.parsellfuneralhomes.com.