Candido 'Dan' Alcantara Jr., 83

Candido “Dan” Alcantara Jr., 83, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, passed away on March 22, 2008, at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene.

A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, 2008, at the Sagle Baptist Church, Gun Club Road, in Sagle, Idaho.

He was born Aug. 13, 924, in San Francisco, Calif., to Candido and Daisy (Teaque) Alcantara and grew up in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif.

Dan served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European African Middle Eastern Theater.

He was decorated twice, receiving the Bronze and Silver stars. For the first award, he charged through fire and rescued three men. The second award was received for crawling from one shell hole to another while under heavy weapons fire and bringing aid to wounded soldiers.

On Dec. 22, 1946, he married Verna Garmeson. In San Francisco, Dan worked as a dental technician and later owned his own dental lab in Santa Cruz, Calif., from 1968 to 1991. Following his retirement, they moved to Bonner County and later to Coeur d'Alene.

He was a ham radio operator from 1958 until the present and he built his own equipment. He also enjoyed boating and loved being a Boy Scout leader, taking the boys camping and such.

He is survived by his family who meant the world to him, including his wife, Verna; three sons, Mario (Brenda), Daniel (Brenda Rae) and David (Lori); a daughter, Rebecca (Gerald) Smelson; and 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be made to the Sagle Baptist Church in his memory.

Please visit Candido's memorial and sign his online guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com