Obituary of Thomas A. Daniel

"Faith, Hope, Love" Those who knew Rev. Thomas A. Daniel—especially those who knew him throughout the lengthy "second career" that was his retirement—will likely recognize these words from First Corinthians (sometimes articulated in English, but often in any number of other languages, including the beloved Slovak of his parents and ancestors), and will associate them with him due to the many framed needlepoint that he produced and gave as presents to family, friends and colleagues. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Rev. Daniel died on September 16, 2012, at the age of 90. Born in the "downriver" neighborhood of Delray on May 19, 1922 to Andrew and Anna (Pelikan) Daniel, Thomas Alexander Daniel was the second of four children, and he eventually followed in the footsteps of his father, grandfather, uncles and older brother to a calling as a minister in the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church. His educational career took him to Concordia High School and Junior College in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri (where he graduated in 1946), as well as to the Slovak Evangelical Theological Seminary in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia for a post-graduate experience that was to profoundly influence and shape the remainder of his life and career. Following a year of missionary work in the Inwood-Dresden area of Ontario, Canada in 1947, Rev. Daniel received his first "call" to Saints Peter and Paul Lutheran Church in Lorain, Ohio, and he served that congregation for the next eight years. In 1955, he was called to St. John Lutheran Church in Akron, Ohio, where he was to serve for the next 29 years, until his retirement in 1984. Under his servant-leadership at St. John, the congregation experienced unprecedented growth that culminated in the elimination of the church's mortgage debt, and it also benefited from his Slovak heritage and education through his conducting of services and ministry to church members in both English and Slovak. Over the course of what proved to be a substantial and active 28-year retirement, Rev. Daniel maintained and developed a wide variety of interests and activities. He was a charter member of the Akron "Silver League" (seniors softball); a frequently-registered student at the University of Akron and a member of the university's "Sixty-Plus" program advisory board; and a performer with the Akron Symphony Chorus, the University Circle Chorale in Cleveland, the Summit Choral Society, and the Berkshire Choral Festival in Massachusetts. Founding editor of "The Doxologist," an occasional newsletter for retired clergy, Rev. Daniel was also an avid worker of crossword puzzles, a sailor, and a motorcyclist. And then, of course, there were his needlepoints—the most common of which were reproductions of the text from First Corinthians 13:13. Traveling frequently both nationally and internationally, Rev. Daniel held two places closest to his heart: Elk Lake in northern Michigan, where he and his family would vacation each summer, and Slovakia, the birthplace of his parents and home of numerous relatives with whom he maintained close ties throughout his life. A man of faith and hope who loved life and so many of its "simple pleasures," he conferred that gift of enjoyment on generations of friends and family, and his ministry emphasized the proclamation of the Gospel to all people through cooperation and collaboration with others in the community of faith. Rev. Daniel is survived by his wife of 62 years, Louise (Socha); their children, Tom, Missy, Leah, Tim; their daughter-in-law, Deborah; their grandchildren, Katie, Anna, Madeleine, Al, Ben, Syd, Robert, Sam and Emma; his sister (Sylvia); many nieces and nephews; and the countless number of friends, schoolmates, colleagues and parishioners to whom he ministered, imparting his belief in and adherence to those words of the apostle Paul that he was to lovingly craft into so many of his needlepoint, which were sometimes in Slovak: "Viera, Nadej, Laska." A private service was held last month by the immediate family. A public memorial service in thanksgiving and celebration of Rev. Daniel's life will be held at St. John Lutheran Church, 550 East Wilbeth Road, Akron, on Saturday, October 27 at 2:30 PM. Memorial gifts can be directed to St. John Lutheran Church, or to the charity of the donor's discretion. (Anthony, 330.724.1281, www.anthonyfh.com)