After a 6 year battle with cancer, Kelly “Mac” McDaniels passed away with his loving wife and daughters by his side on October 19, 2020 at Aurora Medical Center in Oshkosh. Kelly was born on January 15, 1957 to DJ “Mac” McDaniels and Jean McDaniels (Meyer) in Oshkosh, WI. He took pride in the fact that each house he owned or lived in was within a 10 mile radius of one another.
Kelly attended UW Oshkosh for one year, but was placed on “double secret probation” and soon found himself in the car business working for his dad, Mac, at McDaniels’ Motors. Later on, he went back to Fox Valley Tech to get an associate’s degree. Kelly spent the last 27 years working as a bid manager at Unipro Foodservice until he retired in January of 2020. He was one of two males in the office - he used to complain that he was surrounded by women at work and at home, but he secretly loved it!
Kelly married Barb Lackas on June 20th, 1987 after she crawled across the bar to meet him in Whiskey Bay at Mabel Murphy’s. They have two daughters, Kelsey McDaniels (Brian Henshaw) and Kassidy McDaniels. Kelly was the biggest cheerleader for his wife and daughters in all of their school adventures, career milestones, and vehicle mishaps. One of his proudest moments was when his daughter Kelsey was named Miss Oshkosh (2011), and when his daughter Kassidy was honored with second team all-conference utility player for the 2009-10 softball season at Oshkosh North.
Kelly’s greatest joy was to visit the cabin he and Barb built in Wild Rose, WI, lovingly called “Baby Pine.” He wanted nothing more than to be at Baby Pine with his wife, daughters, and friends to listen to The Bug radio, sing and dance around the fire, listen to the peepers, referee Beer Olympics games, enjoy a glass of wine, and smoke cigars. Other hobbies included spending time with his dogs, mowing the lawn, dancing like Elvis, rooting for the Brewers, cheering for the Packers, and harassing Joe Buck. He loved to entertain, and never turned anyone away from his home and hospitality. He had a knack for making everyone he talked to laugh. He will be missed dearly, but would be happy to know people smile when they think of him.
Kelly is survived by his wife Barb (Lackas) McDaniels, daughter Kelsey McDaniels (Brian Henshaw), daughter Kassidy McDaniels (spinster), dogs Wendy and Ziva, and countless friends and family members.
Kelly was preceded in death by his father, Mac McDaniels, mother, Jean McDaniels (Meyer), younger brother Casey McDaniels, his mother and father in-laws Reuben and Francis Lackas, brother-in-law Joe Lackas, and nieces Lauren and Hannah Rankin.
A celebration of life for Kelly will take place on May 8, 2021 at Fletch's Local Tap House, 566 N. Main beginning at 1pm.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial is being established in Kelly’s name.
Special Thanks to: Dr. Mohammad Moid, oncologist, and the rest of the staff at the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic. Special thanks to Karen G. “the chemo nurse” who took especially good care of him.