Dan Mar passed away on Nov. 26. He died at age 80 of heart failure.
Mar, a long-time community leader and generous contributor, was born in 1925 in Seattle. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946 as an electrician, Third Class, according to the Wing Luke Asian Museum’s “Reflections of Seattle’s Chinese Americans: The First 100 Years.” He was also part of the first all-Chinese American group in the Navy and leader in the Cathay Post #186 of the American Legion. In 1971, Mar started Pacific Components Inc. which is located in the same building as Marpac Construction, run by his two sons Donald and Douglas Mar.
He is survived by his wife Edith and their two sons and two daughters.
“We talk about improving Chinatown or making it a more livable place. Without people living there, you can’t do it. Unless you get people living there, kids walking the street, people walking the streets, you just don’t have a community,” said Mar, in his oral history in the “Reflections” book.
