Richard "Rick" Lee Daniels

DANIELS, RICHARD LEE, PhD, age 69, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, April 4, 2021. Known to his close friends and family as Rick, he was born December 12, 1951 in Bronx, NY to his late parents, Stanley and Yvette Daniels, and was brother to Steven Daniels who passed away in 2007. He is survived by his devoted partner of 39 years, Sharon Gold, his niece Lauren Daniels, his nephew Brian Daniels, and his cousins Michael Daniels and Heidi Daniels Tariff.

Rick LOVED animals; particularly dogs, fish and birds. He so enjoyed being by the ocean and in nature or just watching birds enjoy the feeders he placed around his home in Wakefield. He was not a person who was always looking for the next best or biggest thing or feeling like he was somehow missing-out and needed “more”. To the contrary, Rick was perfectly happy spending time at Beavertail State Park, walking on the beach with his beloved dog, Jake, and his partner, Sharon, going for long drives anywhere (most certainly along the ocean), playing his clarinet and serving as a docent at Mystic Aquarium which gave him great pleasure. Rick simply wanted to spend time with the people he cared about like the Bronx Boys and doing things he loved.

Due to Rick’s passion for travel, throughout their four decades together, Rick and Sharon experienced some of the most spectacular places on earth. He ensured he saw as many places on his bucket list as possible. Cycling was not only a great outlet for him mentally, but also allowed him to check off such truly amazing places like the Italian Alps, Julian Alps of Slovenia, Nova Scotia, Crete, Mallorca, Spain, The Pyrenees of Spain & France, New Zealand, Australia and the Canadian Rockies.

A man of vision, Rick was pragmatic, logical and a compassionate “out of the box” thinker who looked for opportunity in challenges. He approached the hardest situations with a “can do” attitude. He had strong leadership abilities in business and academic environments and led by example. In the early 90’s he was presented with the President’s Award at Philip Morris for converting the USA sales force to Apple Macs. Rick wanted to make a difference in this world and along with Sharon, was actively involved and supported Citizens Climate Lobby. His perspective of “success” followed Emerson’s definition of “leaving the world a bit better or knowing even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.”

He left his senior management position at Philip Morris to pursue a PhD in Organizational Systems at the Fielding Institute. During this time, Rick became deeply affected by the devastation in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. He therefore chose to research how people who suffered loss of physical space and their sense of self were recovering, rebuilding and adapting to their “new normal.” While conducting his research, Rick essentially helped develop a distance learning program for the college and at times resided in the devastated portions of the city to get a true understanding of the struggle the people there were then facing. His efforts enabled the Delgado students to access and maintain their pursuit of higher education, despite the lack of physical space. To this day the college still offers distance / remote learning programs with its degree programs. Rick began his academic career teaching at NYU in the Tisch School of the Arts offering courses in Telecommunications. His work as a Professor in Business & Technology at Capella focused on mentoring students pursuing their PhD.

Due to Rick’s far-reaching network of friends, family, and colleagues, as well as current restrictions on gatherings, a virtual service will be held on May 15, 2021 at 3PM. Thereafter, the family will place Rick’s ashes in one of the places from which he consistently drew peace, purpose, hope and joy; the ocean.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made in Rick’s memory to any of the following organizations; each of which meant so much to him:

ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals):

https://secure.aspca.org/donate/memorial

Mystic Aquarium

https://ramp.mysticaquarium.org/donate/contribute1?ct=1