W. Dan Pinion

W. Dan Pinion was born William Dale Pinion on February 29, 1952, the eighth child to Joseph Lee Pinion and Vadow Vonniece (Tucker) Pinion in Lambert, Mississippi. He was a 1970 graduate from Genoa-Kingston High School in Genoa, Illinois and received his Bachelor of Science in Art Education degree from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois in 1976. In 1981, he was awarded his Master of Art degree from Northern Illinois University in Studio Art and Art Education and continued post-graduate work in studio art from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. His teaching career in Art began in the Leland School District, Leland, Illinois. He also taught Art at Sycamore High School in Sycamore, Illinois, then moved to Freeport, Illinois where he was employed as the Art Teacher and Drama coach in the Orangeville Jr.-Sr. High School District. While in Freeport, he met and married the love of his life, Sarah Pragman, on October 24, 1981. The family moved to Iowa in 1988, where he continued teaching as a substitute teacher, with a year spent teaching K-12 Art in the Sentral-Burt School District in Fenton, Iowa. A move to Knoxville, Iowa brought about another stint of substitute ...[more]

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ching in area schools until 1995 when the family moved to the Maquoketa, Iowa area. Dan taught K-6 Art for two years in the Delwood school district until he accepted the position of High School Art educator at Maquoketa High School. He retired from teaching in 2011 and was excited to reopen his own art studio. Dan was an artist who exhibited his work from coast to coast in the United States, with several solo and group shows in the Soho and Chelsea districts of Manhattan, New York City. He was a member of the National Figure Art Association, the National Watercolour Society, First Lutheran Church in Maquoketa, and a former member of the National Education Association. His passion for the Visual and Performing Arts was easily transferred to his students during his teaching career, and he was tremendously rewarded with the performance of his students. Preceding him in death were his parents, two nieces, Samantha Davis and Tracey Brooks; two nephews, Shane Davis and Steven Carr; four brothers, Joseph Jr., Dillard, Shannon, and David; two sisters, Polly Joyce O'Bryant, and Sybil Carr; and a great niece, Brittney Underwood. Also preceding him were a brother-in-law, Cordell Davis, and a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Dale and Genevera Johnson and his father-in-law and mother-in-law, the Rev. Herbert and Esther Pragman. His survivors include his wife, Sarah, three sons, Patrick (Jeanette), Nathan A. (Dawn), and Jacob (Amber); one daughter, Rachel (Tom) Keleher, two brothers, Victor, and Eric, and one sister, Patricia Davis, numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and thirteen grandchildren: Jackson, Alison, Makenzie, Jordan, Ryleigh, Brooklyn, Marie, Dallas, Caleb, Addyson, Connor, Payton, and Harper who always answered to Papa's calls of Jo-Bob, Bertha, Gladys, Jo-Jo, Lucy, New York, Gertrude, Cowboy, Gomer, Princess Fred, Cletus, Etta Mae, and Harpsichordalulu. As was his nature, he bestowed nicknames on each and every one of them, as well as many students throughout his years of teaching. A funeral service celebrating his life will be held at 11 A.M., Wednesday, April 13, 2022, at First Lutheran Church in Maquoketa. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 P.M., Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at Ohnward Fine Arts Center in Maquoketa. Burial will be at Bridgeport Cemetery, rural Maquoketa, at a later date. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy, memorials may be directed to Ohnward Fine Arts Center or Hospice of Jackson County. The Carson Celebration of Life Center in Maquoketa is caring for the family. Online condolences may be left at www.CarsonAndSon.com.