Daniel was born December 7, 1942 in San Antonio Texas to Daniel Nelson Smith Jr. and Florence Joyce Johnson Smith. He grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas and Fontana, California. He graduated from Fontana California High School.
He served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Western States Mission (Denver, Colorado). Daniel married Kari Querida Malone on May 28, 1970 in the Los Angeles, California temple of the LDS church; they recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Daniel had a variety of jobs, but his favorite was working as a paratransit bus driver for the Utah Transit Authority.
Daniel and Kari have 4 children: Kimberly Leann, Karin Joyce (Tyler) Madison, Daniel James (Greta Leydsman), and Alessa Kay (Akari); seven grandchildren: Destiny, Arie, Genevieve, Vincent, Kennedy, Karma and Talon; one brother: David L. (Colleen) Smith; four sisters: Joyce (Richard) Cook, Julie (Russ) Bott, Joanne (Cleon C.J.) Fowler, and Janalynn Smith.
