Daly, Terence (Terry) Patrick
Terry Daly passed away peacefully on Wednesday, December 7th at the age of 98 in his home at Atterdag Village in Solvang, CA surrounded by his family. He was born in Onaway, Michigan to James and Margaret Daly on August 4, 1924, in what became a household of eleven children. Terry spent his formative years in Onaway working on the family farm and graduated from Onaway High School in 1941. He then joined the US Navy, becoming part of the V-12 officer training program while attending Denison University in Ohio and then the University of Kansas in the NROTC program. Terry was honorably discharged from the Navy in November 1945.
After WWII ended, Terry traveled across the country to attend USC on the GI Bill. He enrolled in the School of Business while also becoming a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and Skull & Dagger Honor Society. After graduating from ‘SC with his BA in Business in 1948, Terry attended the University of Michigan Law School for one year. Needing to earn a living, Terry was unable to complete his law degree, so he returned to CA and went to work for Burroughs Adding Machine company, staying there for three years. Then, when an opportunity opened in the management training program at the Mission Linen Supply Company (now Mission Industries) he grabbed it. Terry was an essential member of Mission Linen team for 55 years, serving as Treasurer, CFO and Director of Labor Relations. Upon his retirement from his duties at Mission he became a Director of the company as well continuing his role as a Mission’s labor consultant.
Terry served actively on numerous Boards in the Santa Barbara, Solvang and San Diego areas, including Mission Federal Savings, HomeFed Bank, Jordano’s Inc., Investor’s Research, Braun Industries, and Flavia Associates. He was also an ardent believer in giving back to his community serving as Director for the Salvation Army, Montecito YMCA, Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce and the Santa Ynez Valley Historical Society. Terry also served as president of numerous organizations, including Santa Barbara Rotary Club, Santa Barbara Trojan Alumni Club, La Cumbre County Club, Cottage Hospital (Health), and the Alisal Men’s Club. Terry also held the distinction of being the youngest El Presidente of the Old Spanish Days Fiesta in 1966 at the age of 42 years.
Terry loved sports of all varieties. He was a season ticket holder for USC football for over 30 years, as well as an avid fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dodgers and Rams. Terry was also a very avid golfer spending nearly 65 years as a member at the Montecito, La Cumbre, and the Alisal Clubs. Terry’s passion for the sport took him to courses around the world, most notably St. Andrews, Scotland and numerous beautiful courses in his country of origin- Ireland. His second passion was fishing, both freshwater and ocean. He would spend many years fishing at Lake Cachuma and in the Sierras with his family and friends and was he quite successful. Terry also had a life-long dream to catch a “billfish”, and he pursued this quest in many fishing grounds- Mexico, the Caribbean and Hawaii. Terry was finally able to complete this quest off the coast of Cabo San Lucas in 2004, while fishing with his son Tim.
Terry was happily married to his wife Jo for nearly seventy years. He and Jo (Jordano) were married at the Old Mission Santa Barbara on June 13, 1953, and celebrated 69 wonderful years of love and companionship. They enjoyed traveling the world, covering 5 of the 7 continents, including several visits to Jo’s family in Italy and Terry’s family in Ireland and Scotland.
Together, Terry and Jo had four children- Erin Patricia, Kathryn Theresa, Timothy Patrick and Terence Michael. You can clearly see who was the guiding influence on the chosen Irish names of the Daly children! The Daly’s moved to the Santa Ynez Valley in 1989 with the plan to live a very quiet retirement, but that would not come to pass. Terry’s talents were discovered by many organizations in the Valley where he would become the Director Santa Ynez Historical Society, Director and Treasurer of Mission Oaks, Director and Treasurer of the Alisal Men’s Club, Director and President of Solvang Rotary, which included earning the honor of the Paul Harris Fellow and “Joke Master”. Many others in the Santa Ynez Valley will remember Terry for his service as an usher at the Mission Santa Ines and as an official for track events at Santa Ynez High School.
Terry Daly was a devout Catholic who epitomized the American dream. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather (Pap) and great-grandfather (Grand Pap). He leaves behind his beloved wife Jo, daughters Erin Marra of Everett WA, and Kathi Hames (Bill) of Buellton, sons Tim Daly (Randy) of San Diego, and Mike Daly (Cindy) of Ventura. Also surviving are his grandchildren Katie Wright (Aaron) of Buellton, Will Hames (Katie Rose) of Gaviota, Caitlin Marra of North Bend WA, Alyssa Daly and Brendan Daly (Michelle) of Ventura, his sister Kathleen (Dave) Filener of Carson CA, 5 great-grandchildren of Buellton and Gaviota, plus numerous nieces and nephews throughout the United States, Ireland, England, and Scotland.
“We’ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family,” a family member said, “but the inspiration of his faith, optimism and integrity will live on in our hearts forever.” Rest in peace Terry/Dad/Grampy.
A service and reception for Terry will be held at the Mission Santa Ines on January 14, 2023 at 10am. In lieu of flowers, the family would like to ask for donations to be sent to the following organizations:
Atterdag Village of Solvang- 636 Atterdag Road, Solvang, CA 93463
VNA Health- foundation@vnahealth.com
Sports for Exceptional Athletes- https://www.s4ea.org/support-us
Santa Ynez Valley Therapeutic Riding Program- info@syvtherapeuticriding.org
The families would like to sincerely thank the following professionals who took such great care of Terry during the final stages of his life:
Dr. Gustavo Dascanio and his very competent medical staff
Chris Parker and the entire wonderful staff at Atterdag Village/Solvang Lutheran Home
VNA Health
The Loper Funeral Home