Daniel David Linge
Daniel David Linge
Laguna Beach, CA
A Life Well Lived
A story as told by his envious siblings.
Daniel David Linge, born on August 13, 1956, was the first born to David and Audrey Linge. Even though his ears stuck out and in later years his teeth were buck from thumb sucking, his parents thought he hung the moon. Until two much better-looking siblings came into the picture a few years later.
Danny graduated kindergarten with surprising ease, an event so monumental that his parents held a celebration in his honor. His formative years were spent at Grant Wood Elementary, where he ended up making many friends (once he got his braces off and his ears were pinned back). He went on to attend McKinley Jr. High, where he started to run with a rough crowd, until Audrey put the kibosh on that. To occupy his time, he started swimming and man, could he swim. At Washington High School he was a dominant back stroker and the Washington Warriors swim team were state champions all four years. At Washington, he was popular and made many friends outside of the pool. He also broke a lot of hearts and was careful to stay in his lane, since some of the girls he considered to be ‘untouchable’ (his word).
After high school his love of the mountains drew Danny West. His family had grown up skiing and he knew the Rockies well since his father was one of the founders of Keystone Ski Resort (Dan would want that mentioned). He chose to go to college at the University of Denver, which he referred to as “the Harvard of the West”. This was THE smartest move that Dan ever made, because there he met a nice Jewish girl from Las Vegas, named Beth Kirsch. They fell in love, so much so, that Dan converted to Judaism so they could marry under the chuppah, and he could stomp the ceremonial glass!
Both Dave and Audrey, as well as Dan’s new in-laws Mort and Clarice, were thrilled with this union; to this day we’ve never been to a more joy-filled wedding. Dan’s new brothers, Bruce and Harmon, welcomed him with open arms and their bond only continued to grow. Beth was the apple of Dave Linge’s eye because she agreed to marry Dan. As siblings, we knew Beth was the glue that held things together. Even after 42 years of marriage, she and Dan both had that twinkle in their eye when they looked at each other (lucky ducks).
On April 2, 1985, Dan and Beth welcomed their son, Jared Ross, into the world. That date also happened to be Audrey and Dave’s anniversary, which made Jared even more popular among his grandparents. Dan, Beth, and Jared were freezing their rear ends off in Cedar Rapids when Beth, a Las Vegas girl, said, “Enough of this, we are moving west to a warmer climate”. They settled down in Encinitas, a beach town in north county San Diego. Dan became the Frozen Yogurt King of Southern California when he opened a Heidi’s Frogen Yozurt (not a typo) and Swensen’s Ice Cream store. Around the same time, on March 22, 1989, Dan and Beth welcomed their daughter McKenna Rae into the world. Dan was proud to say that she was the first Linge native to California.
Dan, Beth, and their little family flourished in Encinitas. Dan eventually opened more Heidi’s and Swensen’s stores and dabbled in the ATM business. Even while running two businesses, Dan and Beth found time to make at least 5,000 new friends. Dan was known to say that most Californians don’t have family close, so friends become family. If that’s the case, then his family wouldn’t fit onto Noah’s Ark.
Dan loved the ice cream and yogurt business, but once he perfected the DQ Curly Top, he was pulled towards real estate. He already had his condo at Silver Mill in Keystone and had done remarkably well with his rentals. So, he put his Real Estate degree to use in lucrative California. This paid off well for a man who had the natural gift of making everyone he met feel like they were his best friend. He cared about who people were and was genuinely interested in their stories. He cared about their kids and even their pets. He remembered everyone’s name and had an incredible way of making people feel comfortable. As the big brother he was a role model for us on how to treat friends and even strangers.
Dan loved introducing Jared to Scuba Diving. He taught his kids to ski in the winter and on most summer weekends could be found on Sea-Doos at San Diego’s Mission Bay. Dan adored time with McKenna, even becoming an Indian Princesses Tribal Leader, bonding over a campfire and volunteering in the community.
Dan had an incredible zest for life. He loved to golf with his buddies almost always using the French Golf Balls “Practice”. Dan’s nickname in the Rockies was Mr. Keystone and he wore it well. He could be heard, many runs over, singing “Rocky Mountain High, Colorado” skiing down Go Devil with his hair flowing, no hat or helmet on. No one enjoyed or savored time on the hill more than Dan.
On October 15, 2016, McKenna married Brendan Herling. At their wedding, Dan danced to “Free Bird” (the long version) with family and friends until they kicked everyone out. Three years later, McKenna gave Dan and Beth their greatest gift, “grandtwins”, Aurora Rose and Leo Atticus (named for Dan’s favorite literary character, Atticus Finch). Those two were the light of both Beth and ‘GrandDan’s’ life. Dan was able to spend nearly two weeks with Leo and Aurora in August 2024 when they visited Laguna Beach. He spent every moment of every day with them, splashing in the waves or jumping in the pool. Their visits were magical!
In March of 2022, Dan was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). He was immediately admitted to UCSD and started chemotherapy treatment. Even during the most difficult time of his life, Dan quickly became a favorite patient and friend to all the hospital staff.
About a year into remission, Dan relapsed and was told that in addition to treatment, he would need a stem cell transplant. Miraculously, Dan matched perfectly with an anonymous donor, a 50-year-old German woman and received a stem cell transplant in October of 2023. He suddenly had a taste for bratwurst and beer and became an expert yodeler.
One important thing that needs to be mentioned is Dan’s hair. Dan liked few things as much as his hair. In fact, during COVID he decided to grow his hair out. The contest was to get it longer than Beth’s–we think it was a tie. Dan donated his hair lost during treatment to Chai Life, a Jewish organization who made wigs for children with cancer. As siblings we watched the return of his hair quite closely. We were sure he was cheating somehow. We were shocked when his hair grew back blonde, thick, and strong. No lemon juice or Sun needed.
Dan had the best medical team and always followed expert advice from his doctors. After his second round of chemotherapy and stem cell transplant, Dan and Beth had to live entirely in isolation for 100 days. Dan and Beth’s commitment to getting Dan healthy was a full-time job. They were a team; Beth was the captain and Dan let her lead. Watching their journey together was inspiring to the rest of us.
Once 100 days had passed and Dan was given the green light, he was off to the races. He and Beth flew out to spend time with his grandtwins in Colorado, where they went to the aquarium and visited a petting zoo, among other things. He attended a family wedding in North Carolina, a 50 Year High School Reunion, went parasailing for his 68th birthday, visited his many friends and even swam in the ocean.
On September 13th, our beloved brother’s journey came to an end due to complications from pneumonia. He passed away peacefully in his own bed, as he listened to the sound of the waves.
Dan did not live as many years as we all would have liked, but we can say he lived life well. So go on dear Brother, Father, GrandDan, Husband, Uncle, Cousin, and Friend to so many. We are all better for having known and loved you. Don’t worry, Dan, you have definitely left your mark!
With Love,
Lisa and John.
To donate in memory of Dan Linge by way of UCSD Cancer Research please visit https://giveto.ucsd.edu/giving/home/add-gift. Fund number 4788 and select fund for Lymphoma, Blood Cancer and Stem Cell Transplant Clinical Research Fund.
Please keep Beth, Jared, McKenna and Brendan in your prayers.