Dr. Daniel L. Voyich passed away on Sunday, October 02, 2016 at Livingston Healthcare in Livingston, Montana. On January 15, 1932, Dushan (Daniel) Vuko Vujadinovich was born in Wilkes-Barre, PA to Vuko and Juka Vujadinovich; Vuko was originally from Montenegro, (of former Yugoslavia) and Juka hailed initially from Bosnia. When Dushan was only two months old, his family moved back to Yugoslavia for seven years to live and work on a farm in Kosovo owned by his father and his uncle in Stimlje. The family grew together there, working hard and enjoying the beautiful Yugoslavian landscape.
Subsequent to this, Dushan's father returned to the United States alone to establish a future life in America for his family. Seeking to avoid working in the coalmines of Pennsylvania, his father bought a ranch in Livingston, Montana and, once established, he sent for Juka, Dushan and his sisters (Danica and Milena). Just one short year after their arrival, Daniel's father -- whose name had been changed to Louis Voyich while enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War I -- passed away, leaving Juka and the kids on their own. His mother leased the ranch for six years; Dushan worked a two-acre garden to sell vegetables to local stores for income.
Dushan Vuko, whose name was changed to Daniel Lewis upon immigrating to the United States, started to operate the ranch when he was merely 14 years old. As the only male in his family, it was his duty to manage the demanding physical labor on the ranch. These were very difficult years for the family, posing challenges that nearly resulted in the loss of the ranch. Despite these challenges, Daniel faithfully attended to his work at home while attending school in Livingston, finishing 12 grades in 11 years. Additionally, during this time he became fluent in reading and writing English, supplementing his already-existing fluency in his native Serbo-Croatian tongue, as well as Russian and conversational Italian. Furthermore, he was active in sports, lettering in football, basketball and track; he also boxed for the city boxing team in Livingston.
Daniel's tremendous work ethic was matched equally by his intellect. He forged ahead and continued his education after high school, earning a Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degree from Montana State University. His studies were intertwined with running a beef cattle ranch that also included 35 dairy cows he milked by hand twice a day, breaking over 50 horses to ride and draft, seeding and harvesting hay, while commuting 52 miles round-trip daily to MSU. It is no surprise, then, that he measured a person by his ability to perform a workload.
In addition to 'side' jobs like working for the Northern Pacific Railroad, Daniel pursued his career in education, teaching junior high school. He then became principal after just two years, and he served as a superintendent of schools for two years. This path eventually led him to pursue upper-level pedagogy; he soon became a professor at MSU. Dr. Voyich convinced former MSU president Dr. Leon Johnson that MSU should make a concerted effort to encourage Native American's to pursue higher education. He believed education was the great equalizer. Thus, Dr. Voyich became a true advocate for Native Americans and initiated a program to recruit and advise Native American students in 1966, catalyzing the genesis of MSU's Department of Native American Studies. Dr. Voyich was deeply committed to working with Native Americans because they, like him, believe strongly in their culture, language and heritage. He retired from MSU after 30 years. He never retired from ranching.
Dr. Voyich was highly-esteemed by his colleagues and his students and over the years was awarded many honors. These honors included MSU's most distinguished award, The Blue and Gold Award, recognizing him as someone who has brought distinction to the State of Montana and to Montana State University. Likewise, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Student Advisor Award, a distinction commending excellence for having provided exemplary assistance and guidance to MSU students. In 2010, he was honored as the Outstanding Landowner of the Year by the Joe Brooks Chapter of Trout Unlimited. However, the award he considered the most prestigious and important honor bestowed upon him was the Serbian National Federation Person of the Year (2007).
Daniel married the love of his life, Marie Milanovich, in 1961, whom he had known since he first moved to the United States. Daniel and Marie have three children: Dushan Rajko is a DMD, Vuko Jovan is an attorney, and Jovanka Marija is a Ph.D. Dushan and wife Becky have two children: Elija, 23, and Nastassija, 21. Vuko and wife Kellie (Esq.) have two daughters: Natalia, 17, and Milena, 14. Jovanka has followed in Daniel's path and is a professor at MSU in Bozeman; her husband is Gary Kane. The Milanovich family was also very important to Daniel, especially Dr. Phillip J. Milanovich, whom Daniel always considered his little brother and whose children Jennifer, Stana (children Aidan, Iris, Rose), John (Anita, Esq.), and Jeff (Andrea, sons Logan and Gavin) spent many memorable summers on the ranch with Uncle Dan. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Stella (Milanovich) and Wallace Roberts and his nephew Lauren (Catherine) Roberts (daughter Gillian and son Austin). He is also survived by his sister Danica (Don) Burk and their children Charlie (Dana, children Ava, Emma, Alexa) and Julie (son Joshua). Additionally, he is survived by extended family including Sandra (Pete) Antonioli (daughters Alexandra, Ph.D., and Gabrielle), Mitriann Vogel (daughter Mia), Milton Popovich II, Eugene Mark Popovich, Paula Degnan (Pat, daughter Amelia, son Connor) and numerous relatives in Montenegro, including his cousin Raijko. Daniel was deeply committed to family. He took care of his mother Juka until her death, as well as his sister Milena until her death and his good friend Blazo Banovich until his death.
Friends and family are invited to pay respects to Dr. Voyich at 11AM on Saturday, October 8th at the Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church (2100 Continental Drive, Butte, MT). Internment will follow at Mountain View Cemetery (3910 Harrison Avenue). In lieu of flowers, memorials can be sent to Montana State University's American Indian Club or the St. Labre Indian School (stlabre.org).