The day in the life.. Cheers Dad!! Sun Sentinel. 2006 The bar business is fluid in more ways than one, with watering holes always opening and closing and getting new names. But one name was a constant in Broward County taverns for 30 years: Danny. After celebrating a final St. Patricks Day surrounded by friends and serenaded by a bagpiper, Danny Chichester died Tuesday of cancer. The Fort Lauderdale resident was 65. He was a true legend, said Jack OConnell, who started out as a friend and employee and later was a business partner of Mr. Chichesters. Anywhere he traveled, OConnell said, people would ask, Do you know Danny? It was almost like Cher. He didnt need another name. He always said his hobby, his passion and his retirement were all the same thing and that was owning a bar, said Mr. Chichesters son Patrick. Thats the only job he ever had and thats all he ever wanted to do. He did it well, judging by the loyal employees, devoted patrons and solid reputation he enjoyed. They remembered the big guy -- 400 pounds at one time, with a personality and drinking capacity to match -- who remembered all their names and told an endless supply of stories with a bone-dry sense of humor. Asked by a little old lady buying lottery tickets why he was downing shots and beers at 9 a.m., Mr. Chichester reportedly replied, I got up late. He had a soft spot for widows and orphans, sports and kids. Most recently, he helped raise scholarship money for the Kreul Classic basketball tournament in Coral Springs, where he had lived for many years. He was born in Brooklyn, the son of a Navy man who took the family to Jacksonville, then to Long Island, during his childhood. Back in New York, he finished high school and studied accounting at St. Johns University in Queens. He met his wife, Sandy, at a wedding where he was the best man and she was the maid of honor. They were married for 40 years. In 1968, Mr. Chichester followed his mother to South Florida, where he had almost religiously spent his college spring breaks, Patrick Chichester said. She had opened a motel in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and he went to work there. He opened his first bar, Dannys East, on Oakland Park Boulevard in 1976, followed by Dannys West in Coral Springs. Over the years, he had bars in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Gainesville. He also opened Runyons (now owned by OConnell) and Chowders restaurants in Coral Springs.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 12:28:58 +0000
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