Obituary: Daniel ‘Dapper Dan’ McCarthy, 72, of Scottville

Dan McCarthy

Daniel “Dapper Dan” Joseph McCarthy, 72, of Scottville, formerly of Rockville, Md., passed away on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. Dan was born November 15, 1951, the son Leo Ambrose and Mary (Land) McCarthy.

After Dan graduated high school from Mason County Central with the class of 1969, he went to West Shore Community College then on to Michigan Tech in Houghton. He quit college to take a lucrative job in Houston, Texas. After eight years he moved back to Houghton and started college again. He ended with two bachelor’s degrees, one in education and one in business. Back in Ludington he began substitute teaching in Free Soil, Scottville, Ludington, and Pentwater which led to a full-time teaching position in chemistry and math at Pentwater Public Schools. After retiring due to health problems, he met the love of his life, Sharon Klastow in 2010. They married in 2012 and had just celebrated 12 wonderful years together. Life is not about how many breaths you take but by how many times it takes your breath away.

Dan was a selfless man who loved his God as an active member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Custer. Dan loved playing Civil War games, whether it was on the computer or casting his own soldiers out of pewter. He loved to read and was a math genius. Dan made a lot of one-of-a-kind stained-glass pieces, recently started doing steam-punk art and loved to write poetry. Life is an art and he lived it to the fullest!

Dan is survived by his wife, Sharon (Klastow-Hoffman) McCarthy; stepsons, Martin (Michelle) J. Miller, and David (Lisa) Hoffman; stepdaughters, Kara (Dave) Smedley, and Rebecca Hoffman; grandchildren, Joseph, Summer, Sydney, Stevie, Zachary, and Willow; sisters, Elaine McCarthy and Patricia Cross; sisters-in-law, Marie McCarthy and Sara (McCarthy) Schnell; and many nieces and nephews, all of whom he loved dearly.

Dan was preceded in death by his parents, Leo and Mary Land McCarthy; brothers, Leo McCarthy and Michael McCarthy; and first wife, Kathleen Burns.

A Mass will be held on August 18, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Simon Catholic Church in Ludington followed by his eulogy with family and friends.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Oak Grove Funeral Home of Ludington, www.oakgroveludington.com.