Danielle Robert Dooley

Danielle Robert Dooley (Dani) was born March 19th, 1972 in Flint, Michigan. The son of Karen Collins-Walton Johnson and Keith Reaves. From a young age, Dani took interest in various sports, especially hockey and baseball. He was known as The Closer for his Plano baseball team and The Protector of his younger siblings, especially Tony. Dani also had extraordinary talent for all forms of art including music, graphic design, and woodworking. He loved nature, sunsets, and most of all, his family.

Dani was one of the few to get a perfect score on his SAT. He taught himself how to play the drums which he was passionate about his whole life and he was once the second best BMX racer in New York. Dani and Cindy met in marching band while he was living in South Carolina with his family. Cindy and he had his first son, Keirston, after high school in 1990.

Dani moved to California to pursue his passion for music. He and his brother Tony had unique experiences including seeing the LA riots. He enjoyed meeting new people and hearing their stories, cooking for his friends, and baking professionally. He took a lot of pride in building and designing drum kits at Drum Workshop for many mainstream bands.

Dani moved to Texas to be with his son Keirston in 1996. He continued his music endeavors in the reggae band Watusi, and as a sound engineer at Luminous Sound Lab, working with various artists including but not limited to, Ziggy and Damien Marley, Vanilla Ice, members of Public Enemy, Snoop Dogg, and Nate Dogg.

In 1999, Dani married the love of his life and they had two beautiful children, Cameron and Guerin, and always cherished their close friendship. In his later years, his son Cameron lived with Dani in Grand Prairie and enjoyed talking until the wee hours of the morning, watching movies as Dani monologued, and trying to beat the daily high score at TopGolf. Dani grew his love for the sport of golf as it helped him cope with his heart issues. He was at peace on the golf course and was well on his way to become a PGA certified professional golfer.

Dani leaves to cherish his memory mother Karen (James) Johnson, fathers, Keith (Tekilla) Reaves, Verne Dooley, son, Keirston Dooley and three grandchildren, Na’leah, Kaaliyah, and Kannon, sons Cameron and Guerin Dooley and their mom, Karen Smith, two brothers, Tony and Vernell (Amanda) Dooley, and two sisters, Gini (Wayne) Derry, and Teresa Kara-Sharel (Matthew) Hargrove, two nieces and two nephews, various aunts, uncles, and cousins, childhood friend, Trent Schwind, and close friends, Dave (Robin) Milroy, and Rich Bolcari. Special thanks to David Schott, a retired Plano firefighter paramedic, for giving us 17 more years with Dani.

Dani is gone to join in heaven his grandmothers and grandfathers, Juanita and Robert Walton, and Essie and Charles Reaves, and Elida Garcia, a beloved coworker.

Acknowledgements

The family would like to thank Crossroads Christian Church for organizing meals, Dave Milroy and Bonnie McLaughlin for providing for the family gathering. We wish to warmly thank you for your comforting words and genuine acts of kindness in our time of sadness.

The celebration of Dani’s life will be held at Moore Funeral Home on February 19th at 2:00pm. Please honor Dani by wearing Red Wings attire or your favorite jersey, golf polos, music inspired clothing, or his favorite colors, red or green. In lieu of flowers and gifts, please consider donating to Dani’s sons to help with funeral expenses and their future endeavors.

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