Daniel P. Bohan

Daniel P. Bohan was born on August 13, 1940 to Marion Lennon Bohan and Daniel Bohan in New York City. Throughout his career, Daniel has distinguised himself as an entrepreneur, visionary, serviceman, builder and businessman. He received a degree in Psychology in 1962 from Manhattan College, where he was active in both the German Club and the rifle team. Soon after graduation, he joined the Air Force and was assigned to duty. His last assignment brought him to the Washington D.C. area where he was stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in the late 60's. He loved the area around Washington and delighted in the town houses on Capitol Hill. He also took great joy in walking the vast land south of Washington D.C. in Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, Virginia and invested in property there. A teacher of real estate, he decided that the area would make an ideal setting for a career in real estate. Soon after he married Gloria Spinelli, they moved to Fredericksburg where he was quickly thrust into home building when a contractor whose homes he was selling suddenly died on the job. Gloria and Dan settled in one of the homes and both began their life's work together in the area. The year was 1972. Dan was building homes and Gloria started a travel business. They shared an old English stone house as an office. They eventually decided the area was too far away from the "action", so today a different office of theirs stands on the busy road known as Plank Road or Route 3, in front of the Spotsylvania Mall. Mr. Bohan established Omega Real Estate and Omega Organization, Builders and Developers while Gloria started Omega World Travel. During the 70's, Mr. Bohan built some 400 homes and developed Battle Park Lakes in Spotsylvania, Virginia. When interest rates rose to over 18% in the late 70's and early 80's, Dan shifted his attention to the travel business that Gloria was operating. The travel business was also undergoing change in that it was being deregulated and new opportunities were emerging. Dan took great delight in helping Gloria to expand by searching for prime locations for travel offices around the greater Washington area. His construction crew shifted gears by building out and renovating offices using a modern design of low white counters and decor that distinguished the business from competitors and offered a consistent look for customer identification. By 1982, Omega had expanded to eight locations in the Washington D.C., Virginia, and Maryland areas. At that time, the Government Accounting Office was conducting a test program to see how well private industry could service the government for official travel. This represented a real challenge to Dan who had been involved in proposal reviews and government forms while serving in the Air Force. He spearheaded Omega's entry into government travel and set the stage for a unique and pioneering role in furthering the growth of travel agents in serving government travelers. Always looking to do something "exciting", Mr. Bohan saw the advantage in the early 80's of buying and selling airline coupons that some carriers were offering to travelers as incentives to fly on their airline. This was legal at the time and it helped Omega establish a loyal customer base that appreciated the chance to save money. His loyal and trusted building crew once again shifted gears and helped further the effort by buying coupons from travelers at airports. This effort gained Omega nationwide attention for innovation. Dan continued to work closely with Gloria and the two formed a close partnership with Dan focused on sales and marketing, along with special projects. He quickly became well known in the travel business as an expert and visionary. Through the years, industry executives have credited him for his insight, creativity and ability to foresee future trends. His talent and energy has helped to spark the growth of Omega World Travel into the fifth largest travel agency in the U.S. and more recently, Cruise.com, which has become the largest seller of cruises on the Internet. As a former cobol programmer, Daniel was intrigued with the Internet and encouraged Gloria to go along with the development of a travel technology company which is known as TravTech. Dan grew up on Long Island where his father developed and built homes in Bellport, Bluepoint, Amityville and Westhampton Beach. Bohan senior was an early developer of beachfront property along Dune Road in the late 40's and sold homes along the ocean for $5, 000 and bayside for $4200. He was also considered a great visionary at that time for taking what was considered a risk in buying along the ocean. He and his wife, Marion, built and ran the Ocean Bay Apartments in the early 50's which Dan and Gloria today still operate in the village of Westhampton Beach. Daniel learned the building and real estate business from his father who also owned a real estate agency in Westhampton. He inherited his mother's outgoing personality and loved sales and meeting people. He was very proud of his mother's efforts as a Gray Lady during the war. Like her, he has always been energized by the challenges of new experiences and "Meet People" is a slogan he has promoted in business. Dan loved the water as he grew up along the sandy dunes of Long Island. He learned to sail at an early age and always wanted to live near the water, whether it was the ocean or rivers. His mother and father loved to take him and his cousins in their Ford "tin lizzy" to Miami during the cold winters up north. Dan has continued to love winters down south. Gloria and Dan even had their wedding reception and honeymoon on a cruise ship. Love of water and cruising was not only the spark that ignited the idea for Omega, but also, for Cruise.com While Dan has never tired of finding new things to challenge him in life, whether work or play, perhaps the thing that he values most is the respect and love that he has earned from his employees. Dan has struggled for 6 years to overcome a brain injury sustained after heart surgery in 2004. His dramatic fight has inspired the medical community and his effort has helped those with traumatic brain injuries. He is survived by his wife of 40 years Gloria Spinelli Bohan; his cousins George Atwater, Susan and Joseph Sciareno; Doris and Jean Wells; Lucille and Jack O'Dwyer; niece and nephew, Christine and John O'Dwyer and many devoted friends. PLEASE VISIT www.owt.net/dan for more memories of DAN.