In Memoriam
Daniel J. Kapica
July 8, 2021
Daniel J. Kapica, 78, died at home on July 8, 2021, in his Olympia, Washington home. His wife, Katherine Dudley, notified us. Below are the following:
Obituary #1
Dan Kapica
1964 graduation
Dan was born and grew up in New Britain, Connecticut, with a brother that came 11 years after him. His parents, Joseph and Irene (nee Banasiewicz) were of Polish descent. He was raised Catholic, an altar boy, Eagle Scout, and an editor of his high-school newspaper. This was the early ‘60s so he was able to attend Yale before the Vietnam conflict escalated to the draft. Not wanting to go at entry level, he went to OCS and enlisted as an officer. The early years saw brutal combat. It scarred many — what has become known as PTSD — and adjusting to civilian life was difficult for him. He married, earned another degree from Chicago Booth School of Business, had three daughters, and worked in New York for many years as an institutional trade strategist, commuting from New Jersey.
Dan Kapica
recently
His life unraveled with pressures he could not manage, and he left his family to start over, teaching business at a community college in New Jersey. He took early retirement and moved to Florida with his father in tow. It was during this time he started exploring spirituality and the meaning of Life, and wrote the Mangrove Seed Chronicles. He met his second wife in Englewood and encouraged her to pursue her degree while he wrote his book and memoir.
Dan and Katherine made many trips to the West Coast, and eventually relocated to Olympia, Washington, but not before Dan went to Ecuador and New Zealand. He loved talking to people, getting them to tell their life story as if gathering important information. Like him or not, he was far too engaging to ignore.
His stroke in 2012 curtailed the things he loved to do most — drive around gathering stories, exploring his surroundings, and working on his computer, creating graphic art and finding answers on an array of topics.
Dan and his company from Vietnam days kept in touch over the years but especially as they all got older. In the months before his passing, he managed to put closure on most things from his past. He pondered the Next Chapter and had to trust those who lovingly took care of him that his passing would be easy and that they would support him any way they could. The palliative/hospice team from Providence kept their promise and he passed peacefully at home with his partner of 16 years, Katherine.
Any donations in his name should be made to Providence SW Washington Foundation, 1413 Lilly Road NE, Olympia, WA 98506, Attn: Palliative Care, or to World Vision, P.O. Box 9716, Federal Way, WA 98063.
Obituary #2
Dan Kapica passed away at his home after many years of fragile health.
Born to Joseph and Irene (Banasiewicz) Kapica of New Britain CT, he was raised with his brother, Kenneth, 11 years his junior.
He attended Yale and majored in Sociology. The Vietnam conflict was heating up and Dan enrolled in OCS, enlisting as second lieutenant. He saw heavy combat at Chu Pong in ’65 and earned a Purple Heart. He married Sharon Kelly in ’66, received an MBA from Chicago School of Business, and raised three lovely daughters in New Jersey while commuting to New York to work as a trade strategist.
Dan taught business at Ocean County College in Toms River NJ after his divorce, eventually taking early retirement and moving to FL with his father after he had had a stroke.
Dan travelled to New Zealand and Ecuador. He wrote the Mangrove Seed Chronicles after developing a coping mechanism for dealing with anxiety. He continued to dabble in art, beginning with graphic design and culminating in landscape scenes done in watercolor. It was also in Florida where he met his second wife, Katherine. They visited the West Coast often and eventually moved there.
It wasn’t long after relocating to Olympia WA that Dan had a stroke in 2012. His experience in Vietnam resulted in treatment that caused kidney damage in later life. He was on dialysis for six years and still going strong, finally succumbing to heart failure. His passing was peaceful with the constant support of Providence palliative care, his wife, and her sons.
Commentary on Mangrove Seed
In 2004, Dan founded Mangrove Seed, an educational program to help people do the following:
- Discover their personal Truth through participation in a “creative artistic process”
- Choose to live authentically through conscious choices and self-balance
- Engage responsibly in daily life with harmonious relationships.
Through the use of specially designed "Identity Quest Workshops," the Mangrove Seed helps people create a holistic, balanced, and authentic interpretation of both your inner self and the outer world.
Dan also wrote a book titled Mangrove Seed Chronicles which uses the biological journey of a tiny mangrove seed as a metaphor to represent the human journey from childhood innocence into adulthood. A baby mangrove seed is washed out into the ocean during a hurricane. Fear engulfs the mangrove seed. It is powerless against the strong waves and has no directions for surviving in the ocean. The seed has lost all its friends and the safety of the mangrove forest. Through many animal characters visited on four mangrove islands, the lost seed learns to balance its fears with trust.
The book addresses a fundamental question for growing up: How does a child learn to trust itself and others? The book provides principles of balanced living that parents, teachers, and grandparents may use to dialogue with children. The sixty-four-page, four-color illustrated book was published in 2007 for children of all ages. It can be especially beneficial to children ages 3-13 because it includes many thought-provoking questions for personal reflection and group discussion. As a blueprint, Mangrove Seed Chronicles can be a catalyst and guide for character and values education. As a fable, it can encourage both children and adults to apply the lessons to their personal life situations. There are no absolute answers in the book, only guideposts to the truth hidden within each person. Ultimately, Mangrove Seed Chronicles will promote serious reflection, dialogue, and hopefully ethical personal living in our imbalanced, stressful, and fearful world.
Dan was born in New York City on December 8, 1942. He was awarded the Yale Alumni Cub of New Britain Scholarship. At Yale, he lived in Saybrook College and was active in St. Thomas More House. After Yale, Dan studied theology, liturgy, and catechesis at Lumen Vitae in Brussels, Belgium.
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