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Obituary for Daniel J. Doolin
Daniel Joseph Doolin, 82, of Willows, CA, gently passed away on Feb. 3, 2022, at the Sutter Davis Hospital in Davis, CA. While he had won his fight against bladder cancer in 2021, he ultimately succumbed after a long battle with kidney failure and through complications from the coronavirus. He will be missed by his family and friends who live on both sides of the United States.
Born and raised in Ashland, PA, near the Pocono Mountains, Mr. Doolin was the youngest of four children by his mother, Madeline Martina (Long) Doolin and father, Daniel Hugh Doolin. His family is able to trace its roots back four generations through his father to the town of Doolin, along the west coast of the Republic of Ireland.
As a youth, he attended St. Joseph’s parochial school in Ashland, and later, excelled in sports, particularly swimming and running. As a junior at Bensalem High School he set a new 2.1 mile cross-country record after outdistancing a field of 53 competitors in the Lower Bucks County Championship, winning 1st place and eventually an induction into the H.S.’s hall-of-fame. During the summers he was employed as a lifeguard for the town’s public swimming pool.
While still a youth, Mr. Doolin met and was inspired by Olympic track legend Jesse Owens. His own aspirations to compete in the track and field events of the Olympics were changed when he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1959. As an Airman First Class, he exhibited a high capability in the electronics field and served honorably including active duty during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
By 1965, Daniel and his family had moved to California via Route 66. There he transformed his training from the Air Force and applied his natural skills and abilities to the civilian world and launched a successful career in electronics, communications, navigation systems and modern manufacturing. He worked for several large companies in Southern California and was always a trusted and dedicated employee. He rose through the ranks to hold management and project leader positions, ultimately in the aerospace, defense and energy industries.
According to his closest friend, Skip Muckelrath, “Dan leaves behind many close and lasting friends, many who had been friends for 50 years or more. Dan was very outgoing with many endearing qualities, and he had an amazing sense of humor that he loved to share with others. Even when Dan was suffering during difficult times or personal hardship, he still managed to find something humorous and witty to offer.”
In addition to being a family man, Dan had a true love for music, woodworking, and spending time outdoors. Since 2001, Mr. Doolin lived in Willows, CA, where he was able to grow roses, vegetables and fruit-bearing trees on his property. The key had been to work and enjoy the outdoors, something he had longed to do since growing up in Ashland. He once told his daughter Robin, “I have fond memories as a boy of the outdoors as a place to explore and enjoy scenery beautiful to the eye.”
In the latter years of his life, Mr. Doolin returned to his relationship with God and in a letter to his daughter Kathleen, expressed his renewed connection with his Catholic faith and heritage. While living with his daughter Robin, Mr. Doolin began reading the Bible and came to embrace a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as his Savior.
Mr. Doolin was preceded in death by his youngest daughter, Heidi Doolin. He is survived by his daughters Robin Swauger of Vacaville, CA and Kathleen Stone of Boise, ID; his sons-in-law Troy Swauger and Sean Stone; his grandchildren, Jacob and Rachel Swauger and Ian Stone; his siblings, Kitty Silvestri, William Doolan and Ann Marie Gaughan; and numerous nieces and nephews.
