Shipmates shocked, saddened by sailor’s death

Published 10:50 pm Thursday, June 21, 2007

MARYSVILLE – Robert Danan spent 20 years around water while in the Navy. He worked at numerous shore and ship stations and was an avid swimmer.

Just days before he was scheduled to retire from his post at Naval Station Everett, the 43-year-old father of three drowned while on vacation visiting relatives in the Philippines.

About 250 uniformed sailors from Naval Station Everett attended a memorial service and internment for Danan at St. Mary’s Church and the Marysville cemetery.

He was an “outstanding worker,” supervisor Chief Warrant Officer Robert Steiner said. “He was one of our go-to guys.”

Danan, a first-class petty officer, was an electrician assigned to the Intermediate Maintenance Facility at the base. The unit repairs equipment used on the ships at the naval station.

He planned to retire from the Navy and look for a job in the area perhaps with the Snohomish County PUD or with the Merchant Marine, according to shipmates.

“A lot of people will miss that guy. He was a good guy,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Marvindennis Cruz said.

Danan sang a lot and liked to eat and cook, shipmates said. When the people in his unit had a potluck lunch, it was the food Danan brought that went first.

Fellow shipmates found it ironic that Danan drowned after he worked all his life around water and went to the base pool at least three times a week to swim.

Steiner said he has not been able to learn any details of how Danan died.

He was described as an easygoing sailor.

“Any question you asked him, he’d be helpful,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Fiecke said. “He was very knowledgeable.”

Shipmates said they were surprised and shocked when they learned that Danan had drowned.

“I got a phone call from someone telling me the news. I thought he was joking. Like you see the guy one day and then he’s gone,” Fiecke said.

Cruz said he had to make several phone calls to verify the death.

Danan leaves his wife, Judith, and three children, ages 10 to 14.

Danan died May 25, but it took more than two weeks to get his body back to the states, Steiner said. He was impressed with the Seattle Port Authority and its police and fire units when the plane carrying Danan’s casket arrived June 8 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The flag-draped casket was first off the plane, and the airport’s emergency responders lined up like an honor guard while plane passengers watched from the window, Steiner said.

“It was a sign of respect for someone who has served his country for 20 years,” Steiner said.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.