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A photo of Danny Chris Ivy

Danny Chris Ivy 1952 - 2017

Danny Chris Ivy was born on November 15, 1952 at Newport, Arkansas in Arkansas USA, and died at age 64 years old on February 17, 2017 at Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Danny Chris Ivy
Dan Ivy Esq.
November 15, 1952
Newport, Arkansas in Arkansas, USA
February 17, 2017
Fayetteville, Arkansas in AR
Male
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Danny Chris Ivy's History: 1952 - 2017

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  • Introduction

    Street Jazz The passing of Dan Ivy - and what most people never knew about him Posted By Richard Drake on Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 9:21 AM Dan Ivy is being buried today. Once I heard that Dan was in poor health I should have made more of an effort to make contact with him. I should be ashamed of myself, and I am. When I was in ICU some years back, it occurred to Dan that he should call my house, and once I was moved a regular room, he came to see me in the hospital. Lots of folks had a lot of fun at Dan’s expense over the years - his “Rebel Attorney” TV ads - but he and I both shared a moral repugnance for temporary employment agencies. Dan himself said that there was no such thing as bad publicity, and by the merits of that simple argument, he had plenty of good publicity in his time. But beyond the headlines was another Dan Ivy, one the general public had little to no knowledge of. Born into poverty and dropping out of school in the fifth grade so he could help put food on the table, Dan returned to school as a young man. After earning his GED he went onto to college and then to law school. When I interviewed Dan for the Ozark Gazette in 2002 he told me, “I had a speech impediment. People thought that I was possibly mentally challenged.” But in his 30s he went to a speech pathologist, and discovered that he had an audio perception problem. With the speech pathologist’s help, he overcame his difficulties. Dan was also a public access producer. In fact, the first time I met Dan was when he took a studio class I taught. And today, they are burying Dan Ivy. Dan Ivy was what folks might refer to as a character - an eccentric, if you will - sometimes as if that were a bad thing, or something to be avoided at all costs. Communities need men and women like Dan Ivy, folks who don’t seek the life of the bland, the safe life of one consumed by their personal reputation, or their standing in the community. Colorful folks who just want to do the right thing. Because it is through people like Dan Ivy that we prosper as a community. Perhaps not in any financial sense, or in any way that might matter to a developer, but in a true spiritual sense. They keep a community in touch with its own humanity, and its own diversity. They are burying Dan Ivy today. Let us celebrate and honor the characters, the eccentrics, those who aren’t afraid to stand out from the crowd, before the steamroller of civic progress rolls over them and what they give to the community.
  • 11/15
    1952

    Birthday

    November 15, 1952
    Birthdate
    Newport, Arkansas in Arkansas USA
    Birthplace
  • Ethnicity & Family History

    White
  • Nationality & Locations

    Dan Ivy (1952–2017) Dan Ivy was a high-profile attorney and political gadfly in Arkansas in the latter part of the twentieth and the early part of the twenty-first century known for his creative print and television advertisements for his law practice. In his all-black outfit—black shirt, black pants, and signature misshapen black felt cowboy hat—Ivy was a larger-than-life personality, skilled at self-promotion. Danny Chris Ivy was born on November 15, 1952, in Newport (Jackson County) to Daniel Ivy and Minnie Bell Hickman Ivy, who were devout members of the Assembly of God. He had to end his formal education while still in elementary school in order to help feed his family. When he was a child, he had a speech impediment that he said caused people to think he had intellectual disabilities. After going to a speech pathologist who discovered that he had an audio perception problem, Ivy received treatment to overcome it. He returned to school later in his life, and he earned a GED in 1978. He then worked at North American Industries Inc. as a sales and purchasing director before founding the Ivy Corporation in 1981. Ivy, who served as president of the company, claimed it was the first rent-to-own portable and modular building company in the United States. In 1985, he earned an associate’s degree in general studies from Arkansas State University (ASU). In 1986, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from ASU. He earned his law degree from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1989. He opened the Dan Ivy Law Center in Fayetteville (Washington County), where he offered legal services in personal injury, criminal, automobile accident, and social security cases. Never a member of the state’s legal or political establishments, he became known through his ads on the back of area phone books in which he billed himself as “The Rebel Lawyer.” He took a similar approach in a set of TV ads that proclaimed “no win, no fee.” Although Ivy had reportedly been at the bottom of his law school class, he nevertheless was reported to have boasted that he would one day be known all over the state, a boast his creative advertising efforts may well have made true. Fellow attorneys attested to the success of his approach, observing that the outspoken Ivy got many more calls for his services than the average lawyer, although most were baseless claims. At the same time, a fellow attorney noted that for all his bluster, when a good case came along, Ivy usually passed it to another lawyer to handle it so that the complainant was heard and justice served. As his law practice got started, Ivy also became involved in politics. While he was originally a Democrat, by the end of his career, he had become a Republican. In 1990, he was the Democratic nominee to run for Congress against incumbent John Paul Hammerschmidt, garnering 29.5 percent of the vote in an unsuccessful bid. He followed that with an unsuccessful run for lieutenant governor. In 1994, he was the GOP nominee for state attorney general but was beaten handily by Winston Bryant. In 1996, he was an announced write-in candidate for Congress but garnered fewer than eighty votes. After a very public trial, Ivy was convicted of battery against his wife in 1997. Leaving politics, Ivy became what he called the Founder, Pastor and Healing Prophet at the Church of the Great Worldwide Revival, an organization he characterized as a “healing ministry” through which he hoped to share the gospel of the restored 1611 edition of the King James Bible with the world. Ivy was living in Fayetteville when he died on February 17, 2017. For additional information: Drake, Richard. “The Passing of Dan Ivy—and What Most People Never Knew about Him.” Street Jazz blog, Arkansas Times, February 22, 2017. (accessed July 3, 2018). Rice, Maylon. “Remembering the Late Dan Ivy.” Washington County Enterprise Leader, May 10, 2017. Online at (accessed July 3, 2018). William H. Pruden III Ravenscroft School
  • Early Life & Education

    Attorney at Law at Dan Ivy Law Centers Former Founder and President at The Ivy Corporation Former Sales & Purchasing Director at North American Industries, Inc. Studied at University of Arkansas School of Law Studied Political science at Arkansas State University Went to Arkansas G.E.D. '78 Lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas Single From Pennington, Arkansas
  • Religious Beliefs

    Assembly of God
  • Professional Career

    Dan Ivy was a superb attorney. I am a New York and Pennsylvania Document Examiner. Dan met my daughter and when he told her that he was an attorney, she blurted out that her mother is a famous handwriting expert. He said, "I need a handwriting expert. " Well, he called and we won this case in Arkansas. Later I had to defend the same client in Texas and I won there too. Dan Ivy was so bright and professional and made mince meat out of the other expert who was lying and presented no evidence whatsoever but I had fifty exhibits! The Judge gave a long summation and looked directly at me the whole time. Dan Ivy did a fantastic job. I'll miss him. Sandy Stevens, CDE [Amanda S. Stevenson is my legal name.]
  • Personal Life & Family

    Remembering The Late Dan Ivy ‘THE REBEL ATTORNEY’ DABBLED IN POLITICS AND HAD COURT TROUBLES May 10, 2017 at 5:00 a.m. by Maylon T. Rice WCEL Columnist As I sat pondering this week's political shenanigans down in Little Rock with a Special Session on the heels of the 91st General Assembly, one of the now many "No Win, No Fee" attorney TV messages blared out of the home entertainment contraption. And that slick 30-second advertisement with graphics, a good looking gal to grab all the men's attention and a repeated, and pulsating telephone number to call -- reminded me of a sad little slip of paper I have meant for weeks to include in this column. Danny Chris Ivy, known to everyone as "Dan," has passed away. He did so on Feb. 17, almost four months ago. I have missed running into Dan at the Fayetteville post office, where he maintained a law business, and later a church mailing address. He would wander in up the side steps to a small side door, directly in the back area of the post office where the boxes were displayed. Dressed in his all black outfit, a black shirt, pants and topped off with a very misshapen but signature felt cowboy hat, Ivy would fish out a long key chain on which the post office box key was attached. "Hello, Pilgrim," he would often say. Sometimes he called me "Pad-ner," but always he spoke. I got to where I called him "counselor" and he sort of liked that moniker. Never did he ask about politics, but usually how was "life treating you?" And now he is gone. A native of the flat lands of Newport, Dan grew up poor. Somewhere in all the legal and political waves he made, he was never really forthcoming about his high school matriculation. But he did enroll and graduate from the University of Arkansas Law School. Some snickered and said, "Last in the class." But that didn't bother Dan. He bragged in the class he would one day be known all over Arkansas. And in several ways he proved that true. His meager obituary did not allude to his legal career or later his self-appointed position as a 'Healing Profit of the Church of the Great World-Wide Revival." He was better known in the late 1980s as being on the back page of the area telephone books as "The Rebel Lawyer." He also was one of the first to do those awful "No Win, No Fee," TV commercials. Dan's video appearance in a bright red Jeep and his signature doomsday-black Cowboy hat, served its purpose, one local attorney who pleaded for anonymity told me. Dan, the lawyer said, got more calls about cases than the normal attorney. Mostly, these were bad calls on useless litigation. But every once in a while, Dan truly got a call about a case that was not only winnable -- but one that any lawyer would love to have. Dan was smart enough to not try that case himself, but would find competent counsel for that family and see that justice was carried out." His strong presence on television, and a little gentle prodding, led him to politics. The strongest showing he made was perhaps in the 1990 race for Third District Congress against sitting Congressman John Paul Hammerschmidt. Ivy, as a Democrat, polled 54,332 votes, about 24 percent, to JPH's 129,876. And with fame, came some falling down every once in a while. He went through a rough personal spot, being publicly tried for domestic battery against his first wife. There were more legal scrapes in his personal life, but Dan later found a spiritual rebirth and moved on, he once told me. His last political race, Dan entered the Congressional race in 1996 as a write-in. He got just 77 votes. The funniest Dan Ivy story was on a Washington County Circuit Court hearing where Ivy had requested a judge allow testimony from a psychic as admissible. All I can remember is that the sitting judge, upset with all this rigmarole, asked Ivy "Why didn't you ask your psychic on how I would rule on this, Mr. Ivy?" Ivy had no immediate reply. "She would have told you I am denying your request," said the judge. Dan Ivy died at just age 64. Gone, but not forgotten. MAYLON RICE IS A FORMER JOURNALIST WHO WORKED FOR SEVERAL NORTHWEST ARKANSAS PUBLICATIONS. HE CAN BE REACHED VIA EMAIL AT [contact link]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR. Editorial on 05/10/2017
  • 02/17
    2017

    Death

    February 17, 2017
    Death date
    Heart Attack.
    Cause of death
    Fayetteville, Arkansas in AR
    Death location
  • Obituary

    Danny Chris Ivy Published: February 21, 2017 Mr. Danny Chris Ivy, age 64 of Fayetteville, passed away on February 17th, 2017 at Willard Walker Hospice Home. He was born November 15th, 1952 in Newport, Arkansas to Daniel and Minnie Bell Hickman Ivy and was of the Assembly of God faith. He was preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by a brother Rickey of Weiner, Arkansas. His nieces and nephews Crissy Jones, Nena Whitehead, Roben Ivy, Nikekey Ivy, Caleb Jones, Jacob Jones, Tyler Jones, Dillan Jones, and Blaze and Bryan Whitehead. Memorial Services will be held Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 10 a.m. at Elm Springs Assembly of God with Reverend Jerry Boatright officiating. Donations may by made in care of Reverend Jerry Boatright at 1103 Delaen Street Springdale, Arkansas 72762. Arrangements by Benton County Memorial Park Funeral Home Rogers, Arkansas.
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5 Memories, Stories & Photos about Danny

Danny Chris Ivy
Danny Chris Ivy
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Danny Chris Ivy
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Danny Chris Ivy
Danny Chris Ivy
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He was a fine attorney and I watched him win a very tough case.
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Danny Ivy's Family Tree & Friends

Danny Ivy's Family Tree

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