Co-owner of Wool Grower's dies at 55
| Monday, Jan 04 2010 06:48 PM
Last Updated Monday, Jan 04 2010 06:51 PM
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Daniel Maitia
Loved ones of Daniel Frank Maitia remember the co-owner of basque eatery Wool Grower's Restaurant as a fun-loving guy who "had no enemies and got along with everyone."
Danny, as he was known to family members, was cheerful even during his 2 1/2-year battle with the brain cancer that killed him Saturday. He was 55.
"The whole time, he never complained about the cancer, never complained about the pain," said his wife, Josefa Maitia.
They met at the restaurant, which Danny Maitia's mother opened when Danny was just 2 weeks old.
"He won me in a bet," said Josefa Maitia, who worked at Wool Growers as a server and hostess. "If the Lakers won in the playoffs, I had to go out with him. If they lost, I didn't."
The Lakers won, and Danny Maitia got the prize: a wife and step-son whom he doted on as much as the daughter the couple eventually had together.
From 1998 to 2004, Danny Maitia ran a trucking company that hauled livestock. He named it VS Express, for daughter Victoria and stepson Shane.
"Notice, there was no J in there," Josefa joked. "He was all about the kids. He loved children, and animals, too."
The family has two dogs, Mindy and Camelot.
Danny Maitia enjoyed the outdoors, particularly camping and fishing. He went often with his late father as he was growing up, and took his own kids when he became a father.
He also had an incredible intellect, family members said. He made his own biodiesel fuel from used vegetable oil from the restaurant, and he had a photographic memory that came in handy when he was tending bar.
"If someone came in, just one time, and ordered a drink, he would remember exactly what they had ordered the next time they came in," said Danny Maitia's older sister, Jenny Maitia-Poncetta.
And Danny Maitia was creative, too. He loved his fully restored 1960 Volkswagen pick-up truck, which was so snazzy it made the cover of a VW enthusiast magazine.
He sold it last year as his health began to fail. But the family says it's not bitter about that period.
When Danny Maitia was first diagnosed with cancer, doctors gave him three to six months to live. He made it another 2 1/2 years.
"He was a fighter," his sister said.
Danny Maitia is survived by his wife, Josefa; daughter Victoria Maitia, 12; and stepson Shane Geissel, 21; his mother Mayie Maitia and his sister Jenny Maitia-Poncetta.
Visitation will be held noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Greenlawn Mortuary on River Boulevard. A funeral Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.
The family requests donations to Hoffman Hospice, the ASPCA or Mendiburu Magic Foundation in lieu of flowers. The foundation assists families of sick children.
