George Daniel Mackey

George Daniel Mackey was born December 19, 1941, in Great Neck, NY and grew up in nearby East Meadow, son of George Henry and Alice Mackey.

As a young person, “Danny” excelled in both athletics and academics. He was a loving and devoted older brother, and “as brave as they come”. They spent summers going to Jones Beach with their mother, where he taught his younger brother Eddie to swim. Being an altar boy with his brother in the local Catholic church was the beginning of a lifelong devotion to his faith. He entered Cathedral High School at age 13, and began his 6 year journey to become a Catholic priest, but he left the seminary with one year left, and went to work driving a van and servicing snack machines in Brooklyn, while Dan contemplated his future and the draft.

In August of 1963 he met Joanne Folts, and they dated for the next four years. One of his best friends in life, named Pat Foran, got him to enroll in Creighton University in Nebraska, where he finished his degree in 2 years, graduating in December 1964. Immediately in January 1965, Dan enlisted in the Army and then qualified himself for officer training. He deployed to combat for the first of two tours in Vietnam as an artillery officer, and was promoted in-country to Captain by his Uncle John Mackey, his godfather who was also a fighter pilot.

Dan and Joanne were married in July of 1968, and they drove across the US to Monterrey California, to study Greek at language school, where they celebrated the birth of the first of their six children, a son named Daniel John. Short assignments in Fort Sill, OK and Lincoln, NE, brought two more sons, and then for several months was deployed to the Greek-Yugoslav border without his family, who eventually followed him to Athens, where they celebrated the birth of their daughter Dawn.

Next assigned to Fort Bragg, NC, they had two more sons, one of whom was born with spina bifida. They fought hard to make sure he was able to survive his early childhood. Dan then deployed alone to Korea for one year, partly to keep his family close to medical care. He returned in 1981.

He retired in 1985 as a Major in the Army, having earned the Purple Heart, Airborne, and Combat Infantry, and Special Forces insignia in his two-decade career. The marriage of Dan and Joanne dissolved in 1987, and Dan moved to Michigan, eventually marrying and having the last of his seven children and the second of his daughters, Catherine Danielle.

Around 2000, he sadly left this young family and moved to Phoenix, AZ. Over the remaining two decades of his life, through tireless service and the generosity of his spirit, he gained a community of church friends who grew to love him and who deeply mourn his passing. To them he will always be Tito Dan, a respected and beloved Catholic man who touched many lives and was transformed by them. He spent his final year near his family in North Carolina and went to be with the Lord on the morning of February 2 at the age of 84.

He is survived by a sister, Mary Eibler of New York; his brother Edward and wife Miriam; former spouse and mother to six of his children, Joanne Benson; children Daniel (Lori), Patrick, Brian (Amy), Dawn (Tommy), Christopher, Timothy (Kristina), and Danielle; beloved grandchildren Carson, Camden, Brayden, Ty, Leander, Lucia, Lurae, Maisy, Oscar, Lily, Gabrielle, Sophia, Caroline and little Lucas who was born in 2025.

A funeral mass will be held at 1:00 pm on Saturday, February 14, 2026 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 375 Lumen Christi Lane, Salisbury, NC 28147. Inurnment with full military honors will be held at 9:00 am (attendees must arrive by 8:45am) on Monday, February 16, 2026 at Salisbury National Cemetery Annex, 501 Statesville Blvd., Salisbury, NC 28144.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Raymer-Kepner Funeral Home & Cremation Services is caring for the family. Condolences and memories may be shared at www.KepnerFH.com