Daniel David O’Dea

Daniel David O’Dea

Sept. 6, 1957 - Sept. 28, 2024

KEARNEY, Neb. - Daniel David O’Dea, 67 of Kearney passed away Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 at The Grace Space in Lincoln, Neb.

A memorial mass will be held 9:00 a.m. Saturday, Nov, 2, 2024 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Kearney. Inurnment will follow at Kearney Cemetery. The family will receive friends 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 at O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral Home followed by a 6:00 p.m. Vigil/Prayer Service.

Memorials are suggested to the University of Nebraska Foundation for the Liver Transplantation Development Fund or The Liver Transplant Excellence Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation, Attn: Gift Planning at 1010 Lincoln Mall Ste 300, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508. Condolences may be shared online at www.osrfh.com. Services are entrusted to O’Brien Straatmann Redinger Funeral and Cremation Services.

Daniel was born on Sept. 6, 1957, in McCook Neb. to the late Leonard Francis O’Dea and Marie Elsie (Wesch) O’Dea. He graduated from McCook High School in 1976 and from McCook Community College in 1978 with an Associates of Arts Degree. He then attended Kearney State College and graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1987 he became a Registered Radiologic Technologist graduating from Lutheran Medical Center in Wheat Ridge Colo.

Dan went to work for a company called Mobile Scan driving a semi tractor pulling a trailer with a CT scanner inside. He provided CT scans to hospitals in Kansas, Colorado and Nebraska that could not afford their own scanners. In 1989, he left Mobile Scan and went to work for the private research company WESTAT in Rockville MD. WESTAT had a contract with the CDC and NCHS (National Center for Health Statistics) for a project called NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey). Dan traveled all over the U.S. collecting data to assess the health and nutritional status of children and adults through interviews and physical examinations.

He loved working with people from all over the U.S. and especially liked seeing the parts of the country that most people never get to see. He worked on the study until 2014 when he became ill and returned to Nebraska and on Dec. 5, 2016, Dan was fortunate to receive a liver transplant, a gift that he was forever grateful for.

Dan was a great friend to many people, he kept in contact with his oldest childhood friend Susie (Olsson) Abbey and high school friend Craig Johnson and many others from his high school class. He made new friends after his transplant while rehabilitating at the Wellness Center in Kearney, and newer friends at The Monarch in Lincoln where he spent six months before transferring to his final home at The Grace Space when the Monarch closed.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a nephew Michael “Shane” Rooney.

He is survived by his sisters Ruth (Mike) Rooney of Bird City, Kan., Barbara (Rodney) Callan of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Teresa (Mike) Baumgartner of Kearney. One brother Patrick (Mary) O’Dea of Loveland, Colo., and a half-brother Norbert (Frank) Zwickl of Phoenix, Ariz., and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends too numerous to mention.