Former 3rd Ward Alderman Dan Vance dies after heart attack

By Thomas Geyer and Tom Saul | Thursday, June 28, 2007

Former Davenport 3rd Ward Alderman Dan Vance died Wednesday after suffering a heart attack, said close friend Joe Saldivar of Davenport.

Vance, 60, died at Genesis Medical Center-East Rusholme Street, Davenport.

“He had a heart attack Saturday evening,” Saldivar said.

Saldivar said he had been at the hospital and had been keeping tabs on Vance’s condition.

About 6 p.m., he said, “Tony (Vance’s son) called me and told me he had passed away.”

“He was a good man,” Saldivar said. “We were like brothers. He often told me that.”

Vance was throwing his hat into the ring again in the next election by running for alderman at large, he said.

“He really cared about people,” Saldivar said. “His business card said, ‘It’s about people, not politics.’ ”

Vance also was owner and publisher of the local paper, The Best Years. In 2004, he ran as a Republican for the 86th Iowa House District seat, but lost to Democratic incumbent Cindy Winkler.

Former Davenport Alderman Bob McGivern said he had been thinking about Vance the past few days after learning that he was in the hospital. He described Vance as a friend who “always made me laugh.”

“He loved Davenport and he loved to serve,” McGivern said. “He was one of the few who, whether he left voluntarily or involuntarily, always wanted to come back. There aren’t too many like that around.”

Vance served eight years as 3rd Ward alderman. He had served for six years before losing his seat in 1999. He then regained the seat in 2001.

Former Davenport Mayor Phil Yerington, who served with Vance, said that people will miss him, “because he really cared about people, and not everybody who has sat in an alderman’s seat can say that.”

“He was a good friend,” Yerington said. “Even though we didn’t always share the same views on some issues, it was never personal. We always walked away as friends. Our disagreements never got in the way of our personal friendship.”

And there was more to Vance than him being a good alderman, he said.

“I remember we were in Washington, D.C. at a conference, and it was important to him to go to Mass,” Yerington said. “I’m not Catholic, but I sat through the Mass with him. Not everybody out of town on conferences makes it a point to go to church on Sunday, but it was important to him.”

Scott County Supervisor Roxanna Moritz, who served with Vance on the council and was at times a political adversary, also noted his willingness to serve the people of Davenport. The two sometimes clashed over issues and in the 2003 city election when redistricting put Moritz and Vance in a face-off for the 1st Ward seat. Moritz defeated Vance by 293 votes.

She met Vance for the first time as he staged a campaign back in 1993 to run for the council’s 3rd Ward seat. “He came to ask my husband Tom, who was in the seat but who wasn’t planning to run again, for support. I had just come to the community and that was the first time we met.

“Dan was a very community minded person who gave a lot to Davenport,” she said. “He did a lot for the people of Davenport and he will be remembered for all the work that he did.”

Vance’s son, Tony, said that arrangements are pending at Halligan-McCabe Devries Funeral Home, Davenport.

Thomas Geyer can be contacted at (563) 383-2328 or tgeyer@qctimes.com.Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.