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Dan, the man

Dan Klingerman knew success well before he entered the world of business.

The Williamsport-based developer was Bloomsburg High School’s first state champion wrestler in 1983. He lost one match that year, to Hughesville’s Dave Poust, registered 25 pins, and finished his high school career with a 100-19-1 record.

Klingerman went on to wrestle at Bloomsburg University, where his Division I team beat Penn State all of his four years there.

“He was very dedicated, very goal-oriented,” said Keith Taylor, Klingerman’s high school wrestling coach. “He was the type of kid who was successful in sports and then carried that into life. The main thing is there’s an awful lot of luck involved as far as winning championships, the type of luck you make yourself. He took me along for the ride.

“He comes from a background, a family that way,” Taylor continued. “One brother was a basketball player, both were good football players, and his uncle was a wrestler.”

Besides producing athletes, the Klingerman family grew into a prominent business family over the years. Its beginnings were in the feed and grist mill business, Dan said.

“John C. Klingerman was the patriarch of the family, known as Pop. He was a firm believer in doing things the right way. It evolved into a pretty successful business family, that really got its start in the nursing home business.”

JDK Management (for John D. Klingerman, Dan’s father) now runs nursing homes in Bloomsburg, Tamaqua, Mt. Carmel and Shenandoah.

Klingerman joined the Williamsport office of Mutual of Omaha, an insurance company, after graduating from Bloomsburg with a degree in accounting. He also spent time with private equity firm Kirkpatrick, Pettit Smith and Polian before joining the family business.

“I stepped in and took over restaurant and hotel development, and from there we spun off into other business ventures,” he said.

In business, Klingerman says his accounting background means his focus is “paying very close attention to financial aspects of every company.”

In his personal life, Klingerman married his wife, Monica, in 1990. They have three children, two daughters in college, and a son in high school.

When he can find extra time from his full-time responsibilities as a father, Klingerman has a few hobbies, including one that some might consider more of a job.

“I enjoy farming, I really do. We’ve got a few hundred acres and I enjoy that.”

He also enjoys skiing on both water and snow, and is a dedicated golfer. Former NFL quarterback Jake Plummer is a frequent partner – a couple of Plummer’s signed jerseys hang in The Liberty Group conference room.

Athletics are a focus of Klingerman’s philanthropy.

He hosted a charity golf fundraiser at the Clinton Country Club to kick off the new Tree House Fund of the First Community Foundation of Pennsylvania, of which he’s a board member, in 2010.

Dan and Monica also donated the Generations Sports Complex Dome turf field to Loyalsock Township schools and gave Bloomsburg University $100,000 for a campaign to raise $2 million for football scholarships.

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