Obituary of Dana E. Denef
Dana E. Denef, 88, of Freehold passed away at home on Monday, September 30th, 2023. Dana, who went by Dan most of his life, was born in North Tonawanda, NY to Walter J. and Gertrude (Belling) Denef. He was raised in Martinsville and attended St. Martin Lutheran Church and Tonawanda High School, where he was nicknamed “the Brain”. Dan earned his BS in Electrical Engineering in 1957 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, where he was a member and treasurer of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity, a member of the ROTC, and also a walk-on player for the RPI Engineers Hockey Team. He earned his Masters of Engineering degree in 1971 from Stevens Institute of Technology.
Dan proudly served as an officer in the United States Navy from 1957 to 1959. He served as a Communications Officer on the USS Vermilion in the sixth fleet in the north Mediterranean Sea as part of Operation Deep Water, decoding incoming messages. He was then deployed to the Joint Expeditionary Base, Little Creek, Virginia as part of the Amphibious Operational Training Unit where he was an instructor of radar and radar techniques, as well as instructing NATO troops in operation of naval destroyers. In 1958, Dan was deployed to the crisis in Lebanon aboard the USS Pocono. He completed his Naval career in Little Creek.
Dan was extremely proud of his professional career, where he worked in Aerospace Engineering for 40 years. He chronicled his engineering history in space for his family. Dan initially traveled to New Jersey where he was employed by Kearfot Corporation, which was a subcontractor for Grumman Aircraft Corporation as the supplier of electronic fuel gauge components for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), which was part of John F Kennedy’s election campaign promise to go to the moon and administered by NASA. In the fall of 1965, he joined RCA ASTRO Electronics Division of the RCA Corporation in East Windsor, NJ. He remained there for 32 years, throughout its successors including GE Astro Corp, Martin Marietta, and finally Lockheed Martin, where he retired in 1997. During his tenure, Dan was involved in spacecraft systems engineering for satellite communications and avionics, eventually taking a management position. He was known to be a great mentor for young engineers in the industry. His projects included weather satellites for NASA and the US Air Force, as well as communications satellites. Dan was a part of a team of engineers which designed a full color television system compatible with commercial broadcast standards for use on all of the Space Shuttles, and many images you may have seen on television from the payload bays were from this camera. His family was thrilled to see this camera was part of the exhibits at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Dan completed his career as an Aerospace Consultant for McKnight and Associates until 2010.
Dan was a sports enthusiast. His love of hockey began at a young age, where his father would flood their backyard in the winter so he and his brother could play in the winter.
He continued to play hockey in community leagues for adults in NJ until the age of 62. He was a fan of the NY Rangers and the NJ Devils, and enjoyed watching baseball and football. He was a NY Mets fan. Dan also traveled extensively in his retirement, and enjoyed many trips all over the world with his wife of 60 years, Beverly, whom he met when he moved to NJ. He and Beverly traveled with friends and family and have many happy memories of all of their adventures. They also had homes in the Poconos and in Northport, Florida. His extended family has many fond memories of spending time with “Uncle Dan” at these locations. He traveled with his grandchildren on many a summer vacation. Dan and his wife Beverly also had the privilege of attending the spacecraft launch in Florida of A2100 BUS system which he had worked on September 8th,1996.
Dan was predeceased by his parents, and his brother Joel in 1946. He is survived by his devoted wife of 60 years, Beverly (Elko) of Freehold; his daughter, Jennifer Aronson and his son-in-law, David of Jackson; his grandsons, Griffin and Chase Aronson of Jackson; and his brother, Lawrence Denef of North Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. He was also a cherished uncle of his nephews.
The family would like to acknowledge, Robert Payne (Dan’s caregiver), whom took such great care of him in his final days.
A visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Friday, October 4, 2024 from 5:00 to 9:00 PM. Relatives and friends are invited to attend his 10:00 AM Funeral Service at Hope Lutheran Church, 211 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), Freehold Township on Saturday, October 5, 2024. Interment will be private. For those who desire, memorial contributions may be made to Hope Lutheran Church by mail or online, HERE. For information, directions or condolence messages to the family, visit www.claytonfuneralhome.com.
