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Life story

" Dan was born on December 28, 1950, in Orange, Texas, to Martha (Mathis) Grandy. As a young child, he was adopted by Lester McGee, a Colonel in the United States Army, who raised him as his own.

Dan earned his MBA from Louisiana State University and built a career as varied as it was accomplished. Out of college, he helped roll out one of the first generation of computerized point-of-sale systems for a major retailer. He went on to run finance and marketing for a logging company, then turned to software development, writing financial software for banks and enterprises. Later he returned to his first love, marketing and business development, building strategic relationships between major U.S. retailers and the producers and importers who supplied them. Over his career, he was directly responsible for nearly $500 million in sales.

Dan loved golf, technology, and a good game of pool. He was fiercely competitive, sometimes almost to a fault, and anyone who played him knew he played to win. For all his competitive fire, though, nothing mattered more to Dan than family, and he proved it again and again.

When his son Jason was a boy, Dan moved to California to be near him. When his father, Lester, was diagnosed with leukemia, Dan dropped everything and flew back to care for him until his passing. Years later, when his grandson Liam was born, Dan moved once more to be close by, helping to raise Liam through his first years.

When his stepfather, Cork Grandy, fell ill, Dan again set his own life aside to become Cork's caregiver while supporting his mother, Martha. The two men had shared a deep bond for decades, and those final years brought them closer still. After Cork's passing, Dan stayed by his mother's side until her sudden death the following year. Duty and love were the same thing to him, and he carried both until the very end.

Dan was preceded in death by his father, Lester McGee; his stepfather, Cork Grandy; his mother, Martha "Tutu" Grandy; and his younger sister, Sherry. He is survived by his son, Jason McGee; his daughter-in-law, Shannon McGee; his grandson, Liam McGee; and his former wife, Aliska Bell, the mother of his son and the love of his life.

In keeping with the family's wishes, there will be no public service. "