Mr. Dante` "Dan" J. Spano

Mr. Dante` "Dan" J. Spano, age 87, of Ozark, died in his home Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2007, following an extended illness. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1, 2007, at Westview Memorial Cemetery in the Westview Memorial Cemetery Chapel on East Andrews Avenue. The Revs. Dr. Christian Eckert, Marty Hamilton, and Dr. Billy D. Gaither will officiate. Mr. James D. McLaughlin will share his special thoughts. Interment will follow in Westview Memorial Cemetery, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. His body will be placed in the Chapel one hour prior to service time on Saturday. The family will receive friends at Holman Funeral Home in Ozark from 4 until 6 p.m. Friday evening. Mr. Dante` "Dan" John Spano was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 22, 1920, to Anna and Edmund Spano. In 1956, he married Mary Price Barkett, a widow with five children. Dan helped open and was the manager of The Hub, a Mens clothing store, on the square in Ozark until 1969 when he started Spano Clothing Company. Mr. Spano opened the Slack Shack and The Store Next Door in Daleville along with The Slack Shack in Dothan and Enterprise. In the early 90s Mr. Spano opened The Slack Shack in the old Hub location in Ozark, which he operated until December 2006. He was a member of the Ozark Rotary Club, AUSA, the Ozark Chamber of Commerce for many years, serving as the Chamber President in 1964 and The Mens Retail Association of America. He was also a member of the Ozark First United Methodist Church. His wife, Mary Price Barkett Spano, precedes Dan in death along with his parents and siblings, Anthony, William, Otto (Dempsey,) Carmella and Edmund. He is survived by his children, Fred Barkett and his wife, Gail, Mary-Sue Switzer and her husband, Don, Kathy Buchan and her husband, Fran, Beege Barkett, Jan Lisenby and her husband, James. Dan also leaves six grandchildren, Ann Barkett, Celeste Killpack, Fred P. Barkett, Olivia Buchan, Nicholas Dante` Switzer and Ashley Buchan. Six great-grandchildren also survive. Mr. Spano is also survived by his goddaughter, Patricia Frugoli McCoy, and godsons, Daniel John Barefield and Davis McLaughlin, along with 19 nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Ozark First United Methodist Church, Meditation Garden Fund, 167 E. Broad St., Ozark, AL 36360, or to Westview Memorial Cemetery Association, PO Box 484, Ozark, AL 36361. Holman Funeral Home of Ozark, (334) 774-5348, is in charge of arrangements.