Daniel B. McKibben

1954 - 2015

Daniel B. McKibben

61, died September 16, 2015 in Indianapolis. Dan was born April 27, 1954, in Springfield, Illinois, a son of Robert E. McKibben and Mary Dodd McKibben. Dan married his best friend and the love of his life, Patricia "Patti" Phillips on April 16, 1986, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. He is survived by Patti, and six siblings, Michael (Mary) McKibben, Brian (Robin) McKibben, Marilyn (Art) Enteman, Amanda (Jeff) Maguire, and Sara (Rick) Boren, all of Springfield, Illinois, and Marty (Kim) McKibben of Indianapolis, 18 nieces and nephews and 6 great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents. Dan and Patti were not blessed with children; they were blessed with three "kids", Charlie Dog, Eddie Sue and Kirby Allen. Whether rescued from a dumpster (Charlie Dog, you had to be hungry), adopted (Eddie Sue, we are bringing you home), or acquired from a breeder (Kirby Allen, drop that silver spoon), they brought joy to Dan and Patti.

An avid sports fan, Dan cheered for the Indianapolis Colts, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Indianapolis Indians (despite the fact the Indians are a Pirates farm team chasing his Cardinals), and was a "late to the party" fan of the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. But he was not just a spectator and supporter. He was a star running back for the Springfield Lanphier Lions pursuing his dream of an athletic career until a sweep to the right inside the 10 going for a touchdown in the next to last game of his senior season. Bam, his cleats in the turf as he cut inside a block, a hard tackle, and his knee was blown. Then called a knee injury, now called an ACL - his athletic career was over, or so some thought. It was over for the contact or running sports, but not the "gentleman's" game of golf, but more on that later.

Dan enjoyed a limited number of intriguing career opportunities. Why limited? Because he was an outstanding, long-tenured employee everywhere he worked.  When his heavy equipment testing position at the Fiat-Allis testing grounds near Beardstown, Illinois, ended with the discontinuation of that operation, he became a manager at a Springfield Midas Shop. He and Patti relocated to Indianapolis where she was transferred and he immediately began managing four Indianapolis-area Midas Shops leaving there only to accept the challenge, together with Patti, of introducing Midas to the new market of Brownsburg, where they opened their own Midas Shop in 1998. That operation flourished until they sold the business in 2011 to its current owners.

Back now to athletic competition. The Midas sale enabled Dan to retire to "fine tune" his golf game. Or at least, the time to try to "fine tune" his golf game, and try he did with success. Whether at the Golf Club of Indiana, where he and Patti played for several years, or at the Twin Lakes Country Club after his retirement, his game, like their Midas Shop, flourished.  A 2014 "hole-in-one" (7-iron at Twin Oaks #11) and the August 2015 winner in the Twin Oaks Steeplechase, surely evidence the same. And, for those golfers reading this, Dan, unfortunately passed much too young to have shot his age, a challenge he most certainly would have accomplished.

But the best is yet to be reported. Dan did not know a stranger. Hesitant to strike up a conversation with someone you do not know? Not Dan! A friend to all he met. In today's world full of Social Media, Dan did it the "Old Fashioned Way", face-to-face, talking with his voice, listening with his ears, and laughing with his heart, never hiding behind the anonymity of a keyboard or computer screen. The world needs more Dan McKibbens.  

Funeral Mass will be Monday, September 21, 2015, at Saint Malachy Roman Catholic Church,  9833 E. County Road, 750N, Brownsburg, Indiana, at 10:00 a.m., celebrated by the Rev. Dave Marcotte. Visitation will be Sunday, September 20, 2015, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Matthews Mortuary, 690 E. 56th Street, Brownsburg, Indiana. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, ornamentals or statuary, memorials may be made to the Humane Society of Indianapolis, 7929 N. Michigan, Indianapolis, IN 46268, the American Cancer Society (taking his parents and challenging Patti), 5635 W. 96th Street #100, Indianapolis, IN 46278, and the Epilepsy Foundation of Indiana (a cause supported by Dan and Patti for more than 13 consecutive annual golf outings, including its September 16, 2015, golf outing, an event to which they were preparing to leave their home when Dan was stricken), PO Box 29422, Indianapolis, IN 46229.