mespock
Marxists - Socialists
I know this is long but I wanted a few more people to know the cousin I mourned this past week. And a chance for some people to celebrate his efforts to make his Communities a better place.
Herald Times Reporter MANITOWOC - According to family and friends, Daniel R. Medina, of the town of Newton, was a humble man, seldom talking about his accomplishments in the military and health care while frequently giving to the people he knew best. On Wednesday, Medina, 38, was found dead in the wreckage of his Jeep Wrangler in a ravine near Pheasant Road and Lakeshore Road south of the Manitowoc city limits Manitowoc County Coroner Debra Kakatsch said Medina died during the accident from head and chest trauma. Sheriff's Lt. John Seim said Medina was not wearing his seatbelt. Alcohol was not a factor, Kakatsch said. Medina's vehicle was headed south on Lakeshore Road when it left the pavement Saturday night, authorities said. On Thursday, Medina's parents, Gaenell and Richard Medina, said he had been returning home after watching the University of Wisconsin Badger football game with friends. His parents believe Medina fell asleep while driving. There were no skid marks at the scene of the accident, they said. Gaenell and Richard Medina said they filed a missing person report Tuesday with the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department after Medina failed to appear at his grandmother's funeral on Monday. On Wednesday, a friend, suspicious of a broken guardrail on the route Medina would have taken home Saturday, called authorities who found the vehicle about 40 feet below the roadway, Kakatsch said. Gaenell Medina said he was to have served as a pallbearer on Monday. Gaenell Medina's mother, Elizabeth Schneider, 94, died Oct. 20. "We knew he took my mother's death pretty hard," Gaenell Medina said. "We thought maybe he wanted to grieve alone." Gaenell Medina said Daniel Medina had spent long nights with Schneider in the days prior to her death. "He was a very giving person," Richard Medina said. "He was always helping out and very determined."
According to his parents, Daniel Medina lived in Manitowoc most of his life and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1985. Daniel Medina attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for one semester before returning home to join the Navy SEALs, his parents said.
After serving for six years as a SEAL fighting the drug war in South America, Medina returned home only to join the Air Force Special Forces unit two years later, according to his parents.
"On his way to Air Force training, he pulled bodies of children out of a van on fire on an interstate in the Milwaukee area, his parents said. All of the people in the van were killed, and Daniel Medina burned his hands pulling the bodies out and was admitted to an Air Force hospital before continuing training, his parents said. Medina was awarded an Air Force medal of valor for trying to save the people in the van, according to Gaenell and Richard Medina."
After four years in the Air Force, Medina returned home and graduated in 2002from Lakeshore Technical College with a degree in nursing. He moved briefly to Galveston, Texas, to be a nurse, but came back to Manitowoc about eight months later because he missed his friends and family, Gaenell Medina said. He worked at Holy Family Memorial Medical Center in Manitowoc as an emergency room nurse. About a year ago, he began working in the surgery department, his parents said. He also served for about a year as deputy coroner under Kakatsch. "We're going to miss him very much," Kakatsch said. "He was always a real personable person. He was very sweet and nice. You never saw the tough, Navy SEAL side of him. He was a very, very nice young man." Dr. Todd Nelson, medical director for the emergency department at Holy Family, said he was shocked when he heard the news of Medina's death. "He was someone you could easily sit down and talk to," Nelson said. "He wasn't intimidating and he wasn't intimidated." Nelson said he worked with Medina for about a year. Richard Medina said his son was a humble man. "I never heard him tell people he was a Navy SEAL," Richard Medina said. "He was just a very kind person." Visitation will be held on Monday at Pfeffer Funeral Home, 928 S. 14th St., Manitowoc, from 4 to 8 p.m. Visitation will continue Tuesday morning until the time of prayer service at the funeral home at 10:30 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi on Waldo Boulevard, Manitowoc. Cremation will follow services.
Herald Times Reporter MANITOWOC - According to family and friends, Daniel R. Medina, of the town of Newton, was a humble man, seldom talking about his accomplishments in the military and health care while frequently giving to the people he knew best. On Wednesday, Medina, 38, was found dead in the wreckage of his Jeep Wrangler in a ravine near Pheasant Road and Lakeshore Road south of the Manitowoc city limits Manitowoc County Coroner Debra Kakatsch said Medina died during the accident from head and chest trauma. Sheriff's Lt. John Seim said Medina was not wearing his seatbelt. Alcohol was not a factor, Kakatsch said. Medina's vehicle was headed south on Lakeshore Road when it left the pavement Saturday night, authorities said. On Thursday, Medina's parents, Gaenell and Richard Medina, said he had been returning home after watching the University of Wisconsin Badger football game with friends. His parents believe Medina fell asleep while driving. There were no skid marks at the scene of the accident, they said. Gaenell and Richard Medina said they filed a missing person report Tuesday with the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department after Medina failed to appear at his grandmother's funeral on Monday. On Wednesday, a friend, suspicious of a broken guardrail on the route Medina would have taken home Saturday, called authorities who found the vehicle about 40 feet below the roadway, Kakatsch said. Gaenell Medina said he was to have served as a pallbearer on Monday. Gaenell Medina's mother, Elizabeth Schneider, 94, died Oct. 20. "We knew he took my mother's death pretty hard," Gaenell Medina said. "We thought maybe he wanted to grieve alone." Gaenell Medina said Daniel Medina had spent long nights with Schneider in the days prior to her death. "He was a very giving person," Richard Medina said. "He was always helping out and very determined."
According to his parents, Daniel Medina lived in Manitowoc most of his life and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1985. Daniel Medina attended the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for one semester before returning home to join the Navy SEALs, his parents said.
After serving for six years as a SEAL fighting the drug war in South America, Medina returned home only to join the Air Force Special Forces unit two years later, according to his parents.
"On his way to Air Force training, he pulled bodies of children out of a van on fire on an interstate in the Milwaukee area, his parents said. All of the people in the van were killed, and Daniel Medina burned his hands pulling the bodies out and was admitted to an Air Force hospital before continuing training, his parents said. Medina was awarded an Air Force medal of valor for trying to save the people in the van, according to Gaenell and Richard Medina."
After four years in the Air Force, Medina returned home and graduated in 2002from Lakeshore Technical College with a degree in nursing. He moved briefly to Galveston, Texas, to be a nurse, but came back to Manitowoc about eight months later because he missed his friends and family, Gaenell Medina said. He worked at Holy Family Memorial Medical Center in Manitowoc as an emergency room nurse. About a year ago, he began working in the surgery department, his parents said. He also served for about a year as deputy coroner under Kakatsch. "We're going to miss him very much," Kakatsch said. "He was always a real personable person. He was very sweet and nice. You never saw the tough, Navy SEAL side of him. He was a very, very nice young man." Dr. Todd Nelson, medical director for the emergency department at Holy Family, said he was shocked when he heard the news of Medina's death. "He was someone you could easily sit down and talk to," Nelson said. "He wasn't intimidating and he wasn't intimidated." Nelson said he worked with Medina for about a year. Richard Medina said his son was a humble man. "I never heard him tell people he was a Navy SEAL," Richard Medina said. "He was just a very kind person." Visitation will be held on Monday at Pfeffer Funeral Home, 928 S. 14th St., Manitowoc, from 4 to 8 p.m. Visitation will continue Tuesday morning until the time of prayer service at the funeral home at 10:30 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place at 11 a.m. at St. Francis of Assisi on Waldo Boulevard, Manitowoc. Cremation will follow services.
