Daniel C. Spera

Daniel C. Spera

Beloved Husband, Father and Grandfather, 87

Mr. Daniel C. Spera, 87, of Nutley, passed away on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at Clara Maass Medical Center, Belleville. Visitation will be on Wednesday September 25 at the Biondi Funeral of Nutley 540 Franklin Ave., Nutley from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The funeral will be conducted on Thursday, September 26 at 8:45 a.m. There will be a Funeral Mass celebrated at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church Nutley at10:00 a.m. The interment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington with military honors.  

Dan was born and raised in Newark and Belleville, NJ.  He married his wife of 61 years, Marie (Carluccio), in 1958.  Dan and Marie have resided in Nutley, NJ, since 1960 and have two children, Tricia Battistella and her husband Michael, and Daniel, Jr. and his wife Kathy, and four grandchildren, Tina Tatum and her husband Noah, Michael and Danielle Spera, and Joseph Battistella. He is predeceased by his parents Anthony and Catherine (Giuliano) Spera, brother Peter Spera, and sister Marie Graffeo. He is also survived by his sister Diane Kelly and her husband John, his brother Anthony Spera and his wife Kathleen, and many nieces and nephews.

During the Korean Conflict, Dan proudly served in the US Navy where he pursued a career as an airplane mechanic. The most exciting time of his life was spent aboard the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea. He was also stationed at the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida.

Dan graduated with a BS in Chemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University and an MS in Industrial Engineering from NJIT. He began his career in the pharmaceutical industry at Hoffman-LaRoche in 1957, was the Director of Quality Control and Manufacturing technology at Beecham Products, and retired from Schering-Plough in 1999. During his career he authored and contributed to many articles in various pharmaceutical journals, and formulated many pharmaceutical products, including Claritan D.

Dan always put his family first and was a proud husband, father, and grandfather. His interests and hobbies were in science and technology and audio/visual equipment. He was also an avid bowler. He loved airplanes, a passion he shared with his son, and loved playing on his computer and listening to music.

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