John A. Daly

Born August 1, 1927 in Port Jervis, New York to James & Margaret Daly.

An avid walker, one would not know that as a child he was stricken with severe polio and until the age of 16 endured numerous surgeries to rebuild his feet.

At age 12, he entered Cathedral College’s prep school in NYC. Following his college sophomore year, he hitchhiked with a friend to Oregon and stayed to attend the University of Portland in Oregon. He was the first in his family to graduate from college.

After graduation in Portland he returned to the East Coast and Washington D.C. area. He first worked at NSA, and later for Geico, opening offices in various states. In 1962, he opened the Geico office in Colorado Springs and then in Hawaii. Once back in D.C., he met Nancy Solman, whom he married in 1967 in NYC. They returned to Colorado Springs where John was an independent agent for Geico. They settled in the Skyway area in 1970 and raised four children: Mary, John, Jane and Nelson.

He was part of the original Space Foundation group as they defined their mission to educate the public, especially youths, about Space and its exploration.

John never met a stranger; he enjoyed the company of others and always had a story to tell. He loved his family deeply, carried photos of them which he whipped out to share. He did this with such a frequency that others began to carry their family photos to counter his. He believed in speaking out on issues and had an incredible publication rate in the Gazette’s “Letters to the Editor.”

He was a member of St Paul Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, the Pikes Peak Opera League and a lifetime member of the Elk Club.

John is preceded in death by daughter Mary Margaret, his parents and his 5 siblings: Mary, Dan, Pete, Adele and Jim. He is survived by his wife Nancy of nearly 52 years, sons John N. P. and Nelson, both of Colorado Springs; daughter Jane Benner and husband Bob of Windermere, Florida; grandsons Max, Drew and Nicholas Benner, his sister-in-law Charlotte Daly, sister-in-law Joan Stafford and brother-in-law Frank Maguire as well as his wonderful nieces and nephews, their spouses and children.

A Memorial Mass will be held on July 3, 2019 at 11 a.m. at the Pauline Memorial Chapel, 2 Park Ave. The Mass will be preceded by a Rosary at 10:30 a.m., also at the Pauline Chapel.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Marian House Soup Kitchen, St. Paul Catholic Church or to Catholic Charities.