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Florissant Couple Celebrate 50th Opening Day, 50th Anniversary
Dan and Jan Daniels of Florissant attended their 50th Cardinals home opening game on Sunday and they will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary next month. If you would ask Dan and Jan, they wouldn’t think of spending their anniversary any other way than at the Cardinals game.
The couple’s son, Tom, has been a Cardinals season ticket holder since 1987 and always gives his opening day tickets to his parents. When the Daniels can’t attend a game they either watch it on television or listen to the game on the radio.
The Daniels have attended Cardinals spring training games in Florida, and each year they visit 14 different stadiums to see their Redbirds play.
Dan’s dream is to visit all of the baseball stadiums in the country, said his daughter, Jan Banocy of Florissant.
He umpired for a few decades in several leagues in the St. Louis area and men’s double A fast pitch leagues. But now he’d much rather watch his team play than be behind the plate.
The couple met back in 1956 while working together at International Show Co. Their first date was dancing at the old Black Forest. Cardinal dates followed and the couple married in May of 1957. But it was sometime into the early ’90s when they realized they had attended every Cardinal home opener.
Though business associates, Dan had contacts for tickets throughout the season, so they have seen many home games over the years.
Baseball is a big part of their life as they have often planned vacations around their kids and grand kids games.
On Sunday, the Daniels dined at Mike Shannon restaurant during the afternoon. “My dad enjoys all the memorabilia in the restaurant,” said daughter Jan. “Mom just wants to get down there early to enjoy all the opening day activities.”
Along with thousands, they watched the World Series champs return in the convertible caravan to the scene of their victory over Detroit. Like all the other fans present, they were disappointed the home town team lost the Mets, but afterall it was still another opening day– a very special one for the Daniels.
