Daria Shanks Jackan, RIP

10/5/2006

Joann in the Alemany Alumni Office confirmed today that our classmate Daria Shanks is no longer with us.

I used to get emails from Daria, but I hadn't received any in a few years. She hadn't responded to any of our Reunion mailings. But when her Reunion invitation was returned to us, we really started to wonder about her.

After I made an inquiry about Daria, Joann contacted Daria's older brother John Shanks (AHS-65), who said that his sister had passed away a little over two years ago. Joann said John was sorry that his class didn't have a reunion, and he knew Daria would have enjoyed attending hers.

I last saw Daria at the new Alemany campus. It was in the daytime, so it must have been Alemany's anniversary celebration in 1996, when they were giving tours of the earthquake-damaged original Alemany site. She had an advanced case of MS, and drove herself in a van that I called her Ironsides Van (referring to the TV show "Ironsides" starring Raymond Burr, in case you don't watch TV), because her van had a motorized ramp in the back for her electric cart just like Ironside's van.

I was deeply touched by what I saw in Daria that day. I really admired her because she was very friendly and warm and still had her great sense of humor, despite her condition. Daria had gone to Our Lady of Peace Grammar School with us, so I knew her a long time.

God bless Daria Shanks Jackan.

Danny McMahon