On Thursday, February 10, Anthony “Tony” Lawrence Daniel, age 60, passed away peacefully at Care Haven Homes memory care in Overland Park, KS. His health had declined in recent years due to early-onset Alzheimer's disease, formally diagnosed in January 2019. Tony was a very private person, but his family and friends were very important to him.
Tony was born May 13, 1961 in Fayetteville, NC, to Urban A. Daniel, Jr. and Emily H. Daniel. He moved to St. Louis, MO with his family when he was three years old and then later to Kansas City, MO where he attended Rockhurst High School. He graduated as a National Merit Semifinalist and attended Tulane University in New Orleans where he received a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Computer Science. He attended the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom during his junior year and traveled throughout much of Europe during this year abroad.
Although he lived in Missouri, Tony grew to love the Four Corners region of the Southwest United States. His trips with his uncle King and cousins Morris and Mark included backpacking near the canyons of Grand Gulch adjacent to the Bears Ears National Monument. Exploring ancient Indian ruins, swimming in river pools and wandering the canyon walls was an adventure for a young man.
After college, Tony started his career in the fall of 1983 as a programmer for NCR Corporation in Columbia, SC. He would frequently visit his great aunts Francine Hammette and Linda Poole who lived in Travelers Rest, SC. In the summer of 1990, Tony moved to Portland, OR to work for Sequent Computing Systems. Later, he took a job as a programming manager at Informix Corporation until it was bought out by IBM in 2001. Tony took early retirement and spent his time traveling, having weekly meals and drinks with his Portland “Enterprisers” friends, researching Daniel and Hastings family ancestry, and doing consulting work.
Tony is survived by his mother, Emily H. Daniel of Lenexa, KS, his sister Julie Ellis and brother-in-law Steven Ellis of Minneapolis, MN, his brother Scott Daniel and sister-in-law Ellen Daniel of Kansas City, MO, 2 nieces and 4 nephews, and other close family and friends. Tony is preceded in death by his father Urban Daniel (2017) and brother Michael (1960).
A Celebration of Life and Visitation will be held at 2:00 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27th, at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia, Lenexa, KS. Virtual attendance: https://barstowschool-org.zoom.us/rec/share/fDSN7CSoE9-JhTE9be9NRVAA6YQcVdtNMNn6-VnqBIvpTH8PULp_mf3ShoOPpJBd.Mv-WV27Sg2OUmva_?startTime=1645987503000
In lieu of flowers, Tony’s family requests donations be offered to the Alzheimer's Association at Alzheimer's Association
“We can love completely what we cannot completely understand.” - Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It