Honor, Brains & A Big Heart

For 90-year old Dan Paradies, founder of The Paradies Shops, helping others is a promise borne from deep gratitude and a compassionate core.
By Steven J. Smith
When Dan Paradies narrowly escaped death in a mid-air collision as a young officer in the Air Force during World War II, he vowed he would share his good fortune with as many people as he could — and he has.
The plane crash occurred when Paradies (pronounced “para-dees”), then 20, was flying in a training exercise near San Antonio, Texas shortly after the U.S. entered the war in 1941.
“There were five of us in the two planes,” Dan remembered. “Two in our plane, three in the other plane. We were flying in night formation and the other plane, unfortunately, was flying at the wrong altitude. We hit each other at 25,000

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