Dan Alan Nagy
Dan Alan Nagy died July 15, 2010, on his farm in Centerville. While fighting a hay fire that had started in his barn, he succumbed to a heart attack. He was 49 years old.
Dan was born in New Jersey, at Perth Amboy General Hospital, on Sept. 27, 1960, to John and Becky Nagy. He was the middle son of three boys. He and his mother and brothers moved from Edison to South Brunswick when he was seven. He grew up on the Voight family farm, where he lived until he graduated from South Brunswick High School in 1978.
While in school, Dan avidly developed an interest in woodworking that he continued throughout his life, creating a wide number of objects including musical instruments such as dulcimers and guitars. He taught himself how to play these and other instruments. Also in high school Dan became an outdoor enthusiast under the guidance of Angelo Costa and the SBHS Outdoor Club. After graduation, he spent many summers working in Homer, Alaska, in the fishing industry. Dan returned to New Jersey to briefly work as a machinist at Sonoco Company; then he moved to Portland to work in residential construction.
In 1989 he purchased 80 acres in Centerville and built it into a farm for raising and training racehorses and draft horses. He met his future wife, Barbara Reeves, who was also a horse-training enthusiast. Together with Carl, Barbara's son from a previous marriage, they developed the farm into a business raising horses, then later included Jersey milk cows and making handmade saddles and harnesses. While always keeping a interest in his farm, Dan continued to work in construction until he retired, June 23, 2010, fully to the farm.
He is survived by his wife Barbara; mother Becky and younger brother Ken, both of Genessee, Idaho; older brother Jon of Bozeman, Mont,; his two stepsons, Carl and James Goleman; four grandchildren; and many aunts, uncles cousins, nieces and nephews throughout the United States and Europe.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dan's name to the Humane Society. Columbia Hills Memorial Chapel handled cremation arrangements.
