Dan Kershner, 61

Dan Kershner, also known as “Kersh,” went home to be with the Lord on the evening of Jan. 7, 2021, in Salinas, Calif., after a mighty battle with cancer. He was 61 years old.

Dan grew up in Libby. He was a rugged outdoorsman who enjoyed hiking, camping, picnics, barbeques and spending time in Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks as a child and young adult. He was a Boy Scout and attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree in 1974 in Farragut State Park in Idaho where none other than comedian and actor Bob Hope and then-Miss America, Rebecca Anne King entertained his group.

Dan was a creative and gifted individual who enjoyed both videography and music. He learned to play the trumpet as a youngster and his high school band, The Libby Loggers, were elected to represent Montana at the United States Bicentennial Celebration in Philadelphia in 1976. His band also toured and marched in parades in New York City and Washington, D.C., on that historic trip.

Dan’s lifelong love of music was on constant display for his friends and family. It led him to audition as a trumpet player for an Air Force jazz band shortly after joining in 1978. While a brief illness eliminated his chances, he sought out other creative interests in electronic media, specifically with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services / AFRTS division. He graduated from Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., as an Information Specialist in 1978. Over the course of the next six years, his profession would lead him on three tours of duty around the world including stops in Torrejon, Spain; Minot, N.D., and Keflavik, Iceland.

Following his military service, Dan began a job as a videographer and weekend newscast director at KTVQ-TV in Billings in 1984. There he made lifelong friends and followed them to a position as a news videographer and weekend newscast director for KBAK-TV in Bakersfield, Calif., in the spring of 1989. It was there he met Laura Anderson, who would become his wife, in June of 1992.

Dan and Laura left Bakersfield in the fall of 1996, moving to Watsonville, Calif., after Dan received an offer as a news videographer at KSBW-TV in Salinas, Calif. While at KSBW-TV, Dan spent most of his time working out of the station’s news bureau office in Monterey, Calif. There, he worked as the cameraman for a number of reporters over the years. He was most recently teamed with Caitlin Conrad in 2015. His duties at KSBW-TV included covering news on the Monterey Peninsula, in the Salinas Valley and throughout the tri-county area; setting up daily live-shots from the Monterey bureau, editing nightly stories and coordinating the flow of information between the bureau and newsroom in Salinas. He was also instrumental in coordinating and editing stories for KSBW-TV’s annual Jefferson Awards.

He was a true journalist, often working alone to cover stories across the Central Coast. A friend and co-worker described him as having the mouth of a sailor, the eye of a hawk and the heart of a prince. That, in a nutshell, was “Kersh.”

Dan received numerous awards and recognition for his many accomplishments including: Radio and Television News Division/RTNDA Second Place Best Spot News 1997, Associated Press Television Radio Association/APTRA Best Live Coverage of a News Event 1994, Kern Press Club Best Spot News 1994 and Kern Press Club Best Spot News 1993.

Over the past 42 years in the electronic media, Dan covered former Vice-President and President George H.W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, former Navy Secretary John Lehman, many presidential cabinet officers, numerous members of Congress as well as foreign government officials, countless politicians and several celebrities. Fittingly, his last day on the job was Nov. 3. He was covering the momentous and newsworthy 2020 election.

He and his wife, Laura, were constant companions and best friends who traveled extensively in the last few years. They enjoyed many adventures in Hawaii, Puerto Vallarta, Rome, Arizona, Big Sur, Half Moon Bay, Avila Beach and many more. Dan delighted in surprising his wife, often whisking her away on a long-planned trip, all of his own making.

Dan is survived by his wife, Laura Kershner of Salinas, Calif.; his parents, Dan and Katherine Jo-An Kershner of Florence, Ariz.; his brother and sister-in-law, Dean and Shannon Kershner of Forney, Texas; and nieces, Felicia Kershner of Norfolk, Va., Megan and husband David Schultz of Hurlburt Field, Fla., and their 6-year-old son, Levi. He is also survived by many aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family and friends. Memorial donations, in Dan’s name, may be directed to the Central Coast VNA & Hospice who were a comfort to Dan and Laura in his final hours.

Due to his families’ inability to travel out of state and the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, a virtual memorial is planned for Dan on Jan. 30, 2021, at noon, which will be streamed live on the Grace Community Church Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gccprundale.

Please join us then.