I met Dan as a freshman at Wheaton Community High School in Wheaton, IL in the Fall off 1957. My family had moved in June, 1957 from Minneapolis, MN and we were starting high school. Dan and I, together with John Pfund and Hugh Handley, remained best of friends through high school and college for the next 8 years. I am the sole survivor at this time as John passed away earlier this year and Hugh has been gone for a number of years. Dan lived at the CIM home in Wheaton with other missionary kids. One of his best friends at the CIM Home was Cyril Faulkner, who was also my younger brother’s best friend for 8 years and a lifelong friend.
Dan was very cerebral and we spent endless hours talking, much of time in his large, nice room at the CIM Home. He had a good record collection and record player and we spent much time listening to the Platters, a group we both enjoyed, while talking about life and our aspirations for the future. In high school Dan went out for track and became a good pole vaulter. He was physically strong and a good athlete.
We both went to and graduated from Wheaaton College in 1965. I saw Dan less in college than in high school, but we remained good friends. In the Spring of 1963 my parents invited Dan and Hugh to live at our house in Wyckoff, NJ and work at the Mahway Ford Assembly Plant during the summer. This was the world’s largest auto assembly plant at the time and my family had a connection allowing us to get the best-paying summer jobs at UAW wages for 12 weeks during the summer. Dan and Hugh lived with us that summer and we had a good time. We never had as much money in our lives as when we entered our Junior years at college as we did in 1963 since the auto worker pay was great and the overhead at my home was minimal due to the largess of my parents. My mother had endless discussions with Dan during the afternoons ( he worked the 4 pm to midnight shift) and she grew to love him. My mother had read Dan’s mothers book(s) and she considered it a privilege to help Dan financially.
I lost touch with Dan after graduation as he went into the Army and I went to law school and started my law career in New Jersey. I kept track of him over the years through mutual friends and knew of his marriage to and divorce from Mary, Dylan’s birth, his USPS job in Wyoming and his second marriage.
I saw Dan and his wife at the 50-year Wheaton College reunion in Illinois in May, 2015. I was saddened to learn of Dan’s Parkinsons but I had great discussions with Dan and is wife about the 50 years that we were out of touch. I confirmed my recollection that Dan loved the poetry of Dylan Thomas of Wales in high school and I confirmed that Dan’s son was named after Dylan Thomas.
Dan was a great friend for many years in high school and college and I have wonderful memories of our times together. Danny, RIP.
Tom
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