SOUTH BURLINGTON — Daniel Nicholas Kucij died unexpectedly on Sept. 23, 2017 at the University of Vermont Medical Center as a result of a traumatic brain injury. He was 73 years old.
Dan, or Nick, as some called him, was born on Jan. 30, 1944, in Queens, N.Y. to Daniel and Rosalia Kucij, and grew up in Long Island. After completing his bachelor’s degree at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he served in Nepal as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. When he returned, he married the love of his life, Miriam Ruth Morrill, whom he had met on a blind date while she attended Russell Sage College. They moved with their daughter Sara to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. There they taught elementary school and had a son, Nicholas Dorje, who died shortly after birth from delivery complications. Their daughter, Maya, was born a year later. In 1975, they moved to Vermont, where he completed his masters and doctoral degrees in Education at UVM. Dan worked as a Special Education administrator in the Franklin Central Supervisory Union until he retired in 2000. Afterward he did consulting work for the State of Vermont and was an adjunct professor at UVM.
Dan loved spending time with his children and grandchildren, taking photographs, operating his ham radio, bird-watching, and visiting Maine.
Dan was preceded in death by his wife, Mim, and his infant son Nicholas. He is survived by his daughters: Sara (Patrick) Filliettaz of Cape Elizabeth, Maine and Maya Kucij (Walter Goettlich) of Warrensburg, Mo.; his four grandchildren: Emmet, Owen, Henry and Esther; his brothers: John (Lyn) Kucij of Schenectady, N.Y. and Richard (Ruth) Kucij of Napierville, Ill., as well as several nieces and nephews. He will be remembered by his friend, Kathy Archer, as well as the members of his long-standing Burlington men’s group, and his many beloved friends and former colleagues.
A memorial service will be held at the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington at 152 Pearl Street on Sunday, October 1, at 3 p.m., followed by a reception in the Society’s Parlor. Online condolences may be sent to www.gregorycremation.com. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to www.savethechildren.org, a cause both Dan and Mim cared deeply about.