Beenen, Daniel HenryDaniel Henry Beenen was born on May 3, 1937, the fifth child of Peter Joseph Beenen and Genevieve Kretschmer Beenen. He died early Thursday morning, June 22, 2017, at age 80. During his life he was a brother, husband, father - poet, artist and philosopher.Shortly after his birth, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. She died when he was two years old. In the 1940s, Dan, along with his sister Genevieve, loved Kiddies' Camp in Evergreen Park where they spent several summers.Dan attended Sheboygan grade schools: Jefferson and St. Clement; and Central High School, graduating in 1955.Dan was less interested in school academics and more interested in pursuing his own high-minded education. He loved poetry, philosophy, classical music, and astronomy. Throughout his adult life, his bookcases were filled with well-read works he loved on Greek and Roman history, philosophy, theology, history, evolution, and, of course, poetry.In 1960, Dan was hired by American Motors. Two years later, he took off on a work adventure that included herding sheep in Montana, selling ice cream in the Washington D.C. Hot Shoppes, selling chocolate at the then-new Chocolate Factory in Milwaukee, and a stint as a journalist on the staff of the Milwaukee newspaper, Star Times. In Milwaukee, Dan met Maren Marie Estergard, the daughter of Charles and Beverly Estergard. Dan and Marie were married in 1964 and became the parents of two daughters, Beverly Ann (1964) and Laura Jo (1966). On October 1, 1967, their third daughter Janelle Zoe was born, but the tragedy of sudden infant death took Janelle's life when she was four months old. His daughters have fond childhood memories of his reading to them and his taking them to Chicago for such varied cultural experiences as visiting art and science museums and seeing the movie Star Wars.Dan's final job was working with Marie in Marie's Auto Body, the thriving and respected business she ran for almost 35 years on Teutonia Avenue in Milwaukee.By the late 1990s, Dan showed symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Gradually, the shaking of his hands and feet made it impossible for Dan to continue working. Early in the first decade of 2000, Marie began to dedicate increasing amounts of time to his physical, emotional, and medical care. In 2007, she closed her business and, at the urging of daughter Laura Jo, they moved to Sheboygan. For the rest of his life Marie cared for Dan at home. In addition to physical care, she kept his mind alert by recalling with him family stories, singing "the old songs" with him over cigarettes and cups of coffee, whether he was awake during the day or in the middle of the night. She was always gentle, encouraging and patient, giving him confidence and respect.On June 22, 2017, with his wife and daughters present, Dan closed his eyes and was released from years of pain and his sad awareness of the loss of his keen intellect.Dan was preceded in death by the early deaths of his mother Genevieve, his stepmother Ruth, his father Peter, his brother Peter Jr, and his daughter Janelle.He is survived by Marie, his wife of 53 years; his daughters Beverly Marie and Laura Jo; his grandchildren: Kallie Anne Marie and Kaden Daniel, Elizabeth and Kenneth; his great grandchild Emma; his siblings, MaryAnn, Logan Norman, Genevieve, Laura Grace, Ronald, Bernard, Gerhard. He is also survived by many cousins, nieces and nephews, their spouses and children.Dan will be remembered for his kindness, his love of family, his beautiful handwriting (itself a work of art), his visual art (the famous "boots" and his several beautiful pointillism paintings), his poetry. Dan was proud to be a member of the Institute of Physics (IOP) and proud of his article on astronomy "The Dreyden Hypothesis: Observations on Consistency in a Zero-Mass Universe" that he once hoped would bring him fame. Dan's family is deeply grateful for his wife's beautiful 24/7 care of him these past years.A private home funeral was attended by the family.