Joseph E. Danda, M.D., passed away unexpectedly on October 3, 2020 due to complications after a severe fall experienced at his home.
A Rosary will be prayed at 4:45 PM followed by a visitation from 5-7:00 PM Thursday, October 8, 2020 at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia Street, Lenexa, KS. Funeral Mass will be 10:30 AM Friday, October 9, 2020 at Cure of Ars Catholic Church, 9405 Mission Road, Leawood, KS. Burial at Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa, KS.
Born on July 19, 1961 in Laramie, Wyoming, Joe was the eldest of the five children raised by Jim and Gloria Danda. Joe attended elementary school in Golden Valley, Minnesota, where he thrived on the ice and played an aggressive game of hockey. A natural-born scientist, Joe performed every experiment in his treasured Golden Book of Chemistry.
In the 1970s his family settled in Leawood, Kansas, and in 1979 Joe graduated from Shawnee Mission East High School. Confident that his future would be in medicine, Joe challenged himself at the University of Kansas (KU) by studying English Literature--and playing pinball as often as he could. Upon graduation, Joe earned a full scholarship from the US Navy to attend KU Medical School, which he attended from 1983 to 1987. While in medical school, Joe met his wife of 32 years, Cira Garcia-Ferrer, M.D. On their first date, Joe drove Cira in a dilapidated 1974 Mercury Comet on a wild goose chase to find a reported sculpture of a giant orange brain on someone’s porch.
After medical school, Joe completed a medical internship in Portsmouth, Virginia, at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital. He served as a Physician in the Navy in the Philippines and then in Orlando, Florida, earning the rank of Lt. Commander. During those years, Joe and Cira became especially astute collectors of antique Chinese snuff bottles. After completing his military service in 1992, Joe began a Residency in Anesthesiology at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where he earned the Outstanding Anesthesiology Resident award. In 1994 Joe and Cira welcomed the birth of their daughter, Cira Gloria “Cigi” Danda, who became the center of his life. Joe then spent one year in Richmond, Virginia, at a Fellowship in Pain Management at the Medical College of Virginia. Joe practiced Anesthesiology and Pain Management from 1996 to the present day. As a physician he embodied the Hippocratic oath, truly caring for his patients and alleviating the suffering of others. Joe never expected anything in return beyond his own service.
Joe’s passions in life were rich and varied, and they typically involved reading and study. He devoured classics from Shakespearean plays to Irish poetry to Civil War history. Most recently Joe became a passionate student of theology and Catholicism, as he renewed his own faith in God.
A naturalist at heart, Joe was extremely fond of his farmland in Atchison, Kansas, and reveled in (unconfirmed) stories of Abraham Lincoln visiting the area. In 2011 Joe and his brothers purchased a farmhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, and he became well known among friends and family for his spectacular fireworks displays. Joe enjoyed driving his tractor on the farm and—of course—his pickup truck.
Joe is survived by his wife Cira Garcia-Ferrer, M.D; daughter Cira Gloria “Cigi” Danda; parents James and Gloria Danda, Leawood, KS; brother Jeffrey Danda, Leawood, KS; brother James “Chip” Danda, Lawrence, KS; sister Michelle (Danda) Trouve, Prairie Village, KS; brother Matthew Danda, Leawood, KS; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Notre Dame de Sion Grade School Scholarship fund. 3823 Locust Street, Kansas City, MO, 64109.