Daniel John Velasquez, 34, of Henderson, passed away on Dec. 31, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Daniel was born on Dec. 3, 1989 and was born and raised in Henderson. He graduated from Foothill High School in 2008 and attended College of Southern Nevada.
He held a number of jobs during his life, including retail stocker, hotel front desk, retail sales at AllSaints on the Las Vegas Strip, and most recently, patient representative and manager jobs at dental practices throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Growing up, he spent many summers visiting family and exploring nature out in Northern New Mexico.
He was a polyglot. Daniel was fascinated with linguistics and could read or speak with varying degrees of fluency; French, German, Russian and Portuguese. He was also able to parse certain aspects of Finnish, Swedish, Spanish and Dutch. Daniel's loved ones remember him often singing and dancing to songs in languages only he understood.
Daniel was a self-proclaimed "dork," who enjoyed reading fantasy novels and listening to biographies. He had a seemingly neverending list of favorite anime, cartoons and other animated stories. Daniel had an encyclopedic knowledge of 90s movies and loved campy nonsense in the vein of John Waters. Some of his personal favorites were "Heathers," "Serial Mom," "Clueless," "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion," "Death Becomes Her" and "Jawbreaker."
While he was a homebody at heart, Daniel held a strong love for animals and the outdoors. He and his boyfriend of four years, Michael, would hike at Mount Charleston and Red Rock Canyon, and had camping trips in the Spring Mountains and at Bryce Canyon National Park. Michael, Daniel and his family got to see the Grand Canyon together in the fall of 2021. Daniel was enjoying learning to identify different species of birds native to the Desert Southwest.
He leaves behind a number of loved ones, including his mother, Mary Ann Lucero; his father, Mikel Velasquez Sr.; his brothers, Mikel and David Velasquez; his nephew, Bronx Velasquez; his beloved boyfriend, Michael Shoro; his paternal grandmother, Viola Velasquez; his maternal grandmother, Mary Josephina Andazola; his sister-in-spirit, Livia Castro; and numerous loving uncles, aunts and cousins.
A visitation for Daniel will be held Monday, January 15, 2024 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Palm Boulder Highway Mortuary, 800 South Boulder Highway, Henderson, NV 89015. A funeral service will occur Tuesday, January 16, 2024 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 800 South Boulder Highway, Henderson, NV 89015. A graveside service will occur Tuesday, January 16, 2024 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM at Palm Boulder Highway Cemetery, 800 South Boulder Highway, Henderson, NV 89015.
