Dennis Allen Daniels

Dennis was born on March 18, 1941, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina and passed away at the age of 84 on August 31, 2025, in Northport, Alabama. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Elaine Russ Daniels; daughters, Karen Daniels and her husband, Dave Stensland (Bend, OR) and Mindy Bodden and her husband, Mark (Hoover, AL); grandsons, Nicholas Bodden and his wife, Logan (Smithfield, VA), Jacob Bodden and his wife, Natalie (Louisville, KY) and David Bodden (Carrollton, GA); great-grandsons, Maverick and Baker Bodden (Louisville, KY); step brother, Stephen Franklin (Yucaipa City, CA) and step sister, Cathy Franklin (Desert Hot Springs, CA.)

He is preceded in death by his father, Vernon William Daniels (1964); mother, Martha Elizabeth Johnson Franklin (1997); stepfather, Phil Franklin (2013) and step brother, Michael Franklin (2000.)

His family moved to Wilmington, NC in 1956 where Dennis graduated from New Hanover High School in 1959 after winning state championships in basketball and playing on the tennis team. He earned a BS in Textiles at North Carolina State University in 1963. His first job was with Burlington Yarn in High Point, NC where both of his daughters were born. Dennis moved his family to Tuscaloosa, AL “temporarily” in 1971 to work for Olympia Mills. After the textile industry plummeted, he began working for the University of Alabama in the College of Continuing Studies as a Program Coordinator in 1977. He retired from the University in 2005 as the Assistant Director of SafeState Training Programs. His retirement hobbies included RVing and judging over 120 KCBS barbecue contests in AL, AR, FL, IN, LA, MS, NC, and TN. Of course, his biggest joy and consumption of time was attending the many football, basketball and soccer games of his grandsons. He also loved to travel. He visited all fifty states, cruised to Alaska twice, the Bahamas twice and through the Panama Canal three times.

Dennis was an only child but was blessed with many lifelong friends who he considered brothers; Edwin Taylor of Raleigh, NC and Ron Staton of Wilmington, NC. He also considers Beth Ann and Mike Kolenda to be family including their children Chris and Sara who called him Uncle Dennis. He always said chosen family was the best.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life on Monday, October 6th at 11:00 AM at Sunset Funeral Home located at 3802 Watermelon Rd, Northport, AL 35473. Lunch will be served following the service. The final resting place of his ashes will be at Greenlawn Cemetery in Wilmington, NC at a later date.