Daniel Ivanick(1957-2013)

A graduate of Clarkstown North High School, he earned his undergraduate degree in communications from Cornell University in 1974 and his graduate degree in Instructional Design from Syracuse University in 1995. In 1989 he married Maura Larkin and in 2001 and 2003 respectively, he traveled to China to adopt their daughters, Lia and Julia. They were the delight of his life and he adored being their father. He loved reading with them, teaching them to cook, watching programs like NOVA and Cake Boss, and helping them with their homework, especially mathematics. Dan was self-employed and was the owner of DMI Productions. He was an award winning director, producer, and animator of children's books for Scholastic Weston Woods, Sesame Street, and numerous other companies. He completed his last production, Math Curse, for Scholastic after he was diagnosed with ALS. After he earned his graduate degree, he was employed at Lockheed Martin and most recently by Saab Sensis Corporation as an Instructional Designer. Dan was also a published playwright whose work was produced at Pace University. He was always writing verse, stories, and songs. He combined his artistic talent with his interest in technology and his natural curiosity about all things to teach himself computer animation. Dan loved classical and jazz music, gardening with his girls, reading, cooking and brewing beer. He was an excellent and competitive athlete who enjoyed tennis, racquetball, ice skating, and hiking with his friends. He enjoyed long discussions of politics, engineering, science, and the general state of the world.