Dan Linegar

Services will be held Saturday morning for Dan Linegar, a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Burbank Temporary Aid Center.   Mr. Linegar died Sunday, November 27.

A Burbank resident since 1991,  Mr. Linegar had been a longtime volunteer with BTAC when he was elected to the Board of Directors in 2004.  By then he was already closely associated with BTAC’s “Santa’s Room” project, a program providing Christmas gifts to the children of Burbank’s homeless, poor and working poor.

“Santa’s Room” began as a few shelves in a shed behind BTAC’s previous headquarters building, or in similar locations around town in earlier years, where a handful of used toys – mostly stuffed animals cleaned and repaired by volunteers – were arranged for clients to select one as a gift for each of their children.

Under his guidance, especially once he became the official Chairman of the project in 2004, Santa’s Room grew to take up its own building space on a short-term basis each year, offering only new, donated toys to hundreds of children each year. Last year the program distributed more than 7,000 toys to children in the city who otherwise would have received little or nothing.

“Dan was always the dream sort of board member, not one who just shows up for an occasional board meeting, and isn’t heard from otherwise,” said Barbara Howell, BTAC’s Executive Director. “We have a very involved board at BTAC, but he was always especially one to raise his hand and volunteer to put in more time, to work on more projects, and to fill in where he was needed.  Better than that, Dan was an exceptionally sweet, kind and thoughtful man.”

In addition to chairing “Santa’s Room” for six years, he also served for one term as BTAC’s Treasurer, and on the Operations Committee, and the Budget and Finance Committee.

Mr. Linegar’s charitable efforts went well beyond his service to BTAC. He founded Burbank’s successful “Relay for Life,” an annual fundraising event for the American Cancer Society that is made up of local efforts across the country, and he became Chairman for the local American Cancer Society in 2004. He also participated in “Builds” for “Habitat for Humanity,” and in the Revlon Walk/Run events, a fundraising effort to fight women’s cancers.

Mr. Linegar grew up in Estes Park, Colorado, and received his Masters in Business from Colorado State University. He worked in the mortgage industry.

He is survived by Victoria Sands, whom he once described as his “VERY significant other” when explaining how much work she put in helping him with Santa’s Room projects. Dan also leaves behind his sister, Carol Smid, a daughter and son-in-law, Angela and Steve Macgregor, and one granddaughter, Brenna Macgregor.

Funeral Services for Mr. Linegar will be held on Saturday, Dec. 3,  at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale,  at 8:30 a.m. in the Wee Kirk o’ The Heather.  A reception to which all friends and fellow volunteers are invited, will follow at 2960 N. Myers St., Burbank.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Burbank’s “Relay for Life,” or to the Burbank Temporary Aid Center.