June 21, 1962 – July 9, 2024
HAVEN, formerly Mankato, Kan. – Daniel Earl Hesket, 62, of Haven, Kan., (formerly of Mankato, Kan.) passed away Tuesday, July 9, 2024 in Cheney, Kansas. Cremation is planned and a Celebration of Life will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, at the Community Center in Haven, 215 S Reno St Ave.
Daniel (Dan, Danny) was born on June 21, 1962 in Arkansas City, Kansas, to Merle Gary and Judy (Martin) Hesket.
Dan’s father, Gary Hesket was hired by the Kansas Forestry Fish and Game in 1960 and was given the choice between living in Hoxie or Mankato. It was an easy choice for him to move to Mankato. Being raised not far from the Oklahoma line on a farm south of Oxford, Gary, his wife Judy and their two daughters, Debbie and Diana began a new chapter in life in what he usually referred to as “God’s Country” until his death in 1999, at the age of 64. Daughter, Sharon, followed in 1963, just one year and one month, after brother Dan’s birth, with Dan’s joking comments on the house being governed by the female presence.
After graduating from Mankato High School in 1980, Dan attended Fort Hays State University (FHSU), to study in the biological field. He loved nature, and grew up with a hard work ethic, and respect for others.
The Hesket siblings were all exposed to the outdoor adventures of hunting, fishing, trapping and camping and it was not uncommon for the household to have some orphaned wild animal in a cage being rehabilitated for release back into the wild. Animals consisted of baby beavers, opossums, raccoons, hawks and owls and a cedar waxwing that returned to the yard every year for several years. A pet prairie dog named Gertie, was a favorite in the house, belonging to sister Debbie. There were also the vary rare cases of animals such as fawn deer, the trumpeter swan, and the majestic American symbol, the Bald Eagle, which caught hold of Dan’s upper lip, tearing it with its talons, for numerous stitches, caused due to Dan and Sharon playing Cowboys and Indians, to catch a closer look, that didn’t pan out to well.
Major Dan said he was exposed to the outdoors at a very young age – “like fours-hours-old”. He rode with his dad on his daily patrol and would fish while he checked licenses at the inlet and outlet at Lovewell Reservoir, Webber, Kan., or he would catch bull frogs at Jewell County State Fishing Lake as he set on a hill and observed the activities going on. As he got older, he would get dumped out with a pack of traps, or a bow to deer hunt, a shotgun to hunt pheasant and quail, or one of his favorite activities, a .22 rifle to set under a tree to shoot squirrels. He learned to set up decoys and operated a duck call and waited patiently for the ducks to wing in and set their wings before the shot was fired. In 1975, he purchased his first Black and Tan coon hound, “Buck”. Many years of night hunting followed with so many memories to mention including the people that were met and conversations with the local farmers.
His mother and father taught all of the children about respecting what nature could provide them. They all worked in a large garden and later learned the art of raising bees and harvesting honey. They were taught to never waste anything or harvest something just because it was there. Dan caught the biggest walleye of his life below Lovewell Dam in the spring when the release gates were open. It was on a yellow doll fly and it weighed 9 pounds, 3 3/4 ounces. They took photos and he got a master angler award for it as his mom was frying it up in the frying pan.
Dan began to see cases where individuals would criminalize the take of wildlife, mainly out of greed and not of necessity, and remembers a eagle poisoning case where a sheep farmer was lacing carcasses with the pesticide, Furadan to kill coyotes, but this nasty chemical was toxic to any creature that ingested it, even humans. Dan spent many nights inside a cold truck with the windows down catching spot-lighters, not for deer, but for raccoons, as the fur market in the 70’s and early 80’s was quite profitable and even helped pay his way through college with his own fur line and coon hounds.
The exposure of this life appealed to Dan and was a key influence in beginning to make career choices. He had many offers to play football at smaller colleges such as Sterling, Tabor, and Bethany, but his choice of college went to Fort Hays State University.
While attending FHSU, Dan majored in Biology and Industrial Arts, obtained his teaching certificate and decided to pursue his Master’s in Biology with an emphasis in Fish and Wildlife Management. While in college, he worked during the summers for fisheries biologist at Glen Elder, Cedar Bluff and Webster gaining two and a half years of work service with the agency. While working on his master’s in 1987, combined agencies became the Kansas Wildlife and Parks. He graduated from FHSU with Bachelor's Degrees in Industrial Arts and Biology and later received his Master's Degree in Wildlife Management. Dan was very talented in woodwork/art projects and left several family members a piece of him that are treasured. If anything needed fixed, he could do it.
In 1989, Dan Hesket was hired on as a Conservation Worker at Webster State Park and a year later transferred to the law enforcement division as a Conservation Officer in Russell and half of Ellis County. In the fall of 1992, Dan accepted an unpaid promotion to fill one of two specialized positions within the Wichita area. This position was as a Boating Enforcement Specialist and working with the Boating Law Administrator.
Dan was united in marriage to Vallie Dunnegan on September 13, 1993.
In 1994, he was moved under the Region 3 supervision where he continued to be a boating enforcement officer and assisted in covering Reno, Sedgwick, Kingman and Harper counties during the hunting season.
The field experiences were the highlights of his career, but he made the choice in 2002 to accept a promotional opportunity in the Pratt Operations Office as an Assistant Division Director. In 2004 he was appointed as the Boating Law Administrator for the State and begin making associations with other state boating professionals and serving on committees within the National Association of Boating Law Administrators, for 18 years served on committees, chaired committees and ended his career as the Treasurer for the NASBLA Executive Board.
In 2008, the law enforcement division was reorganized and Dan Hesket became the Major of Specialized Operations, where he supervised Captains in charge of hiring and recruitment, officer training, emergency management, officer professional standards, the agency honor guard which was created under Captain Rob Ladner and himself.
Eventually his duties consisted of running the law enforcement division’s boating program and supervision of the hiring, training, K-9, emergency management, professional standards, honor guard and other specialized issues.
After 34 years of service, Major Dan retired and started spending more time to do the things he liked with family and friends as his new goal, but still maintained a strong belief of the profession of wildlife law enforcement, its value and necessity, as human nature is an opportunist and without any deterrent, wildlife can be exploited to extinction as history has shown.
Dan helped others always. Was a kind, fun-loving human being, and will be remembered for his warm heart, generous spirit, and the countless memories he created with his family and friends.
Dan is survived by his wife of 30 years, Vallie Hesket, of the home; mother, Judy (John) Bingham, of Mankato, Kan.; children, Amy (Jeff) Bryant of Colwich, and Matt (Sarah) Kuhn of Parkville, Mo.; grandchildren, Lily, Lainey, Kingston, Ashton, Rylan and Kyler; and three sisters, Debra (Dan) Carl of North Platte, Neb., Sharon (Mark) Sahlfeld of Beloit, and Diana Sanpaka of Kiowa, along with numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Gary Hesket, Mankato, and his grandparents, Everett and Ruth Martin, Arkansas City.
A Celebration of Life will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, at the Community Center in Haven, 215 S Reno St Ave. Memorial contributions can be made to Beauties and Beasts, Inc., and can be mailed to Ott Funeral Home, PO Box 217, Haven, KS 67543.
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