Daniel Gabriel Segovia, 67

He was always laughing, smiling, or telling jokes.

When you think of Daniel Segovia, that's the first thing that pops into everyone's head. His good nature and positivity, his sense of humor and constant ribbing of anyone – young or old – and his love of catching up with people around town, sometimes at great length.

Daniel Gabriel Segovia was born on July 21, 1955, in Edinburg, TX to Ruperta and Gabriel Segovia. He was the second youngest of six boys in a family of migrant workers, who traveled up and down the western United States, from Texas to Idaho, and as far east as Oklahoma.

Dan was the first in his family to graduate high school, getting that honor from Wilder High School in Wilder, ID. He went on to graduate from Treasure Valley Community College in Ontario, OR, with a degree in Applied Wildland Fire Science, as the first in his family to graduate college.

After working on the Snake River Valley fire crew with his dad and brothers after high school, then attending college, Dan started his career with the Forest Service in 1980 as a wildland firefighter in Oregon, where he eventually met his future wife, Jackie Renn, who was also working with the Forest Service.

Always the charmer, Dan asked Jackie out to the movies and managed to coax a kiss out of her before the date even started. They were married on November 30, 1984. Dan loved family, so he and Jackie expanded theirs, having his daughter Lea in 1987, and son Mannie in 1989, both born in Oregon.

His job with the Forest Service took the family from Burns, Oregon to Whitehall, MT, in 1994, where they bought a house and put down roots in the community. He retired from the Forest Service as a Fuels G.I.S. Specialist in 2004. Dan continued to work locally, as an Internet Installation technician with TeleSystem Services until 2018, when his battle with cancer began.

Dan's passions were wide-ranging and included family, animals – but especially dogs, coaching his kids, baseball, running, karate, being in the mountains and outdoors, gold panning, four-wheeling, fishing, hiking, cooking, gardening, the color hot pink, the Montana Grizzlies, the Boston Red Sox, the Oakland (now Vegas) Raiders, and of course one of his favorite things was to make people laugh.

Always a fighter, he beat his multiple myeloma into remission for the better part of five years, despite also suffering kidney failure as a result of his cancer. In 2022 the myeloma relapsed and, though he continued to battle hard a second time, Dan Segovia passed away peacefully in his home on April 5, 2023, surrounded by his family.

He was preceded in death by his father in 1988, and his oldest brother, Rosalio, in 2006. He is survived by his wife Jackie, daughter Lea, son Mannie (Danno), mother Ruperta, and brothers Frank, Miguel, Pedro, and Leo, as well as numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

The family doesn't plan on holding any services, but requests instead that in honor of Dan: spend some time outdoors, love each other fiercely, and most importantly, make someone smile or laugh each day, for Dan.