Kallus

Dan J. Kallus was born in La Grange on Aug. 3, 1932 to Rita Parma Kallus and Frank T. Kallus and died on Aug. 24, 2018 in the presences of his family and loved ones after a brief battle with cancer. He attended Sacred Heart Catholic School and then graduated from La Grange High School. Stories from the family claim he read all the books in the La Grange City Library, none of which were ever denied. Dan began his college career at Texas A&M College just after his 17th birthday. He graduated from Texas A&M with a Bachelor of Science, completed officers training and served for two years in the United States Army. He returned to Texas A&M as a graduate assistant and earned a Master of Science degree. After graduation, Dan was accepted to UT Law School and also received a contract to teach science in Midland, Texas. A real job and paycheck drew him to Midland, where he spent the next 38 years in the classroom. During his teaching career, 34 at Midland Senior High School, he was named the outstanding chemistry teacher for the Southwest Region of the American Chemical Society in 1976, among other awards. Dan was chosen as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Chemistry at Princeton University in 1985. He also served for a time as the editor of a feature column in The Journal of Chemical Education. Dan married Martha White on June 1, 1963 in Big Spring. Dan and Martha had two daughters, Elizabeth Kallus of Arlington and Mary Kallus of Portales, NM. Dan is survived by his wife and daughters, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Binie and Edna White, his nieces Jennifer Bubany (Charles), Angela Kallus, and Denise Goodwyn (Craig), and nephews Richard Kallus (Pamela), David Kallus, Andrew Kallus (Linda), and Brad White (Gigi), as well as numerous great nieces and nephews. Dan was preceded in death by his parents Frank and Rita Kallus, his brother Malcolm Kallus and sister-in-law Gertrude Kallus, brother Frank “Buddy” Kallus and sister-in-law Mary Joyce Kallus. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Midland. Graveside will be held on Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 at 3 p.m. at Trinity Memorial Park in Big Spring.