Steve Ledder (1960)

Dan was a very close friend of mine since 1953. He was a great baseball pitcher and even greater guy. I feel blessed to have been Dan's friend - and backyard catcher. RIP, my dear friend.

Steve Ledder

SPHS 1960

James Tomlin (1961)

Dan was a team mate for three year in Middle League and I was his catcher the last year. My hand is still sore from the fastballs. He was a great guy without a mean bone in his body.

Jeanne Vallereux (Lee) (1961)

I remember Dan as being somewhat shy, with a sweet smile. He also had a good sense of humor. I remember his smile most.

Susan 'Sue' Silvio (Terbrueggen) (1965)

Danny and Melinda lived across  from us on Lyndon Street.  He and his sister were my brother Colin and my friends growing up, and their parents were really nice, friendly people.  I'm sorry to see him gone at such a relatively early age. I remember his sweet, shy smile the most...as he was four years older than I, we didn't hang out together much.  Melinda and I taught ourselves to ride homemade skateboards down and around the hill that bordered their house. Seems tame in retrospect, but we thought we were being big risk takers! Good memories. 

Colin J. Silvio (1961)

My mom has kept in contact with Danny over all these years and we knew of his failing health. The last time we were together was at my wedding in August 1965. He served as one of my groomsmen. After that he must have gone into the service and we lost contact. This has brought back a lot of memories of our days together and the seemingly endless summers we all spent trying to get into/or out of trouble. Danny may have been the most easy going person I have ever met. We all were a bit that way, given our age and lack of responsibilities, but Danny had a natural quality of respect and kindness that affected all of his interactions with people. As we get older and interact with a larger set of people, the positive qualities we saw, and perhaps expected, in our early friendships, sometimes become more scarce. Danny was a very good friend to us all.

Robert Lutes (1961)

Dan was my first friend at South Pas. We kept in touch and visited over all the years after high school. I will miss all our teasing back and forth.

Nathaniel Hummel (1961)

I just recently became aware of Dan's passing. I'll echo his quiet understated manner, yet I could tell he ran deeper than appearances might suggest.

One of the more  poignant memories was running into him after graduation. There was a small, friendly neighborhood beer bar on Huntington Dr, right at the So. Pas/L.A. border and I went there to have a beer and saw Dan. We visited and Dan related that he had served in Vietnam and related some of his experiences there in a manner which suggested he survived without serious mental scarring. As the door to the bar would open occasionally, when someone was entering,  he, almost casually, mentioned that in Vietnam all the service people would turn their heads towards the door to see who was entering. This, he said, was not out of idle curiosity but rather that sometimes North Vietnam infiltrators would throw a hand grenade into a bar or other places where American Service People might  frequent. I was taken that he was able to relate this without anxiety or bitterness. It was then that I knew he would be all right and had already taken a large step in reintegrating into civilian life. It also seemed to me to be a kind of metaphor for his ability to deal with whatever life might throw at him. I was happy for him.

I liked Dan, and I can see that he was well liked and will now be missed.

Nathaniel Hummel, '61

Kathleen 'Katie' Krock (Barrett) (1964)

What a nice guy from a lovely family.  Rest in peace, Danny. 

Katie Krock Barrett  

Class of '64