This would have been less than a year since we started hanging out.

Watching the South Park movie over 100 times, making a plate of nachos with Diet Coke every day after school, playing 21 on our old basketball hoop, the time we went back to school shopping together with your mom because I hadn't gone yet, King Richard’s Faire to watch jousting and buy fake swords, going to see the first Harry Potter movie even though I’d already seen it because you wanted me to, seeing Rush Hour in theaters for your birthday, going to Funco Land to buy Final Fantasy 8, and when I didn't have the money for a much needed memory card, you chipped in and bought it for me. 

That time we were rough housing and I broke a bone in my hand lol, but it didn’t stop us from going to Water Country soon after. We talked on the phone every morning before school even though we were about to see each other anyway. We climbed to the top of the Statue of Liberty, went to a Broadway play, and made it to the roof of the World Trade Center just a few months before 9/11.  We went to see Blink 182 and Green Day at the Tweeter Center in 8th grade, and I still have the t-shirt I bought. There are too many memories like these.

Looking around, all the places in my childhood home remind me of you. As I write this, I sit in the room we spent literally thousands of hours together playing games, watching tv, and just passing time together. You were such a bright person, in mind and in spirit, and it hurts to think through these memories, though they were happiest time in my life. 

Your Friend Always,
Steve


We still saw each other the next couple of summers when you came back to visit, but lost touch altogether for several years afterwards. After graduating from college, we briefly reconnected online for a time through the online text-based game he had developed. I was in the midst of some challenging medical issues and was far from my best. Suffice it to say, I'm glad we reconnected even for that little bit, but it's bittersweet. Losing touch was certainly 100% on me. 

You had been growing on my mind for the last year or so; that feeling that something important in my life was missing. The urge to reconnect grew very strong, with only my anxiety stopping me from reaching out. If only I had tried just a couple of months earlier. 
You were loved by my family and our group of friends, and while many years have passed, those feelings have never faded. 
I've been looking through all the photos trying to find you, and I'm somehow shocked that we don't have more. Now that I'm focusing on these old memories, they keep spilling over as though they happened yesterday. 


Dear Dan, family, friends, and acquaintances, 

I don't know where to begin. When I heard the news, I realized that it's been almost 20 years since I’ve heard Dan's voice or seen him in person, and yet many of the memories are so incredibly fresh. 

I met you in fifth grade, a new student at my elementary school. We talked a bit, but it wasn't until 6th grade social studies that we became fast friends. Chatting about video games quickly turned into you saying he should bring over Diablo for us to play after school, and from there we became inseparable for several years. You introduced me to many other games like StarCraft, Magic the Gathering, Dragon’s Gate, Super Smash Brothers, Halo, and we played them with the unlimited enthusiasm of youth. 

We spent countless hours at each other's houses playing games after school, having sleepovers, and walking to the local pizza place for lunch. I introduced you to a few games too and we delighted in playing games like Twisted Metal and Final Fantasy together.
Our friend group spent many glorious youthful nights staying up far too late drinking Mountain Dew, eating pizza and candy, and having eight friends get together so we could play 4V4 Halo. I'll always remember the first time we tried to set it up, just to find that we couldn't actually rent a second Xbox. Your dad, knowing how excited we were, went out and bought another one just so we could all play together.

When you moved away from the Boston area, we gradually fell out of touch, though perhaps that had begun before. You were the de facto leader of our group, and I think I reached a point as a teenager where I wanted to carve more of my own path. 


Dan was a really great friend, co-worker, and someone I will dearly miss. I first got to know Dan a decade ago while I was working at ESnet and he was at IU. We used to joke that we were following each other because we kept ending up on the same projects. I was so excited when he eventually joined our team at ESnet nearly two years ago. I am sure his friends and family already know what a wonderful person he was, but he was also one of the most talented and hard-working engineers with which I’ve had the pleasure to work.

Beyond being a co-worker, I considered Dan a close friend despite the fact we lived in different states. Dan was someone I talked to almost every day for large stretches of the time we knew each other. We weren't in the same physical location so we were mostly limited to remote forms of communication, except for a few times a year on work travel. He was the ultimate sounding board for ideas at work, but we’d also talk about family, life and our many similar interests. I remember hearing about his trips to Alaska, Sedona and his adventures following around Dani for her iron man events. Dan was obviously paying attention when we talked too. On a recent trip to Berkeley he thought it'd be fun to play a game where he'd see if he could find my house on Google maps just using information I’d shared with him in the past. It was pretty entertaining and impressive to see him get it down to a few houses next to each other. It was also a testament to what a thoughtful person he was that he remembered so much about our conversations over the years.

My deepest condolences to Dani and the rest of the Dan's family. I hope eventually there is some comfort in the lasting impression that Dan left on so many people. He will be missed.


The best son-in-law one could ever have.  Dan was the most kind, supportive, and loving to all things on earth.  Our time together will be greatly missed.  Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Dan, you are loved so much ♥️

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Daniel Laurence Doyle

18 septembre 1986 – 25 juillet 2024

Day & Deremiah-Frye Funeral Home

Montrez votre soutien

Envoyez Vos
Condoléances

Partager
L'avis De Décès

Obtenir les mises à jour

Prestations de Service