Daniel Walter Houghton

Daniel Walter Houghton was born 8/15/1949 in Carthage, NY and was 75 years old when he died 9/1/2024. Born to Floyd Ralph Houghton and Alice Margaret Camp, he was the 5th of 8 children....3 boys and 5 girls.

He is preceded in death by his parents, both of his brothers Clyde and Willis Houghton, his oldest sister Sally Nightingale, and his brother-in-law Harold Gamble.

Survivors include his wife of 54 years: Janet Houghton;

2 daughters: Stephanie Sotelo (David) and Rachel Houghton;

4 grandchildren: Yvette Hadden (Matthew), Xavier Sotelo (Christina Avila), Victoria Sotelo and Nicolas Sotelo;

4 great-grandchildren: Elijah and Sadie Hadden; Aureus and Amina Sotelo;

4 sisters: Elaine Gamble, Betty Boshart (Terry), Carol Parry (Tom) and Barbara Bernard (Jerry);

his sister-in-law: Vickie Houghton;

his brother-in-law: Cliff Nightingale;

And 24 nieces & nephews.

Daniel moved out to Arizona in December 1969 and just one month later, he met Janet Marie Sproule. The two got married on 6/6/1970 and later they had two daughters Stephanie and Rachel. He loved his daughters so much that he wrote a song for them entitled, "My name is daddy."

Dan had a great sense of humor and loved telling jokes. His hobbies included playing guitar and singing country music, playing card games like Bridge, Pinochle and Cribbage, and he really enjoyed working on cars. But above all else, he whole-heartedly loved Jehovah God!

Serving Jehovah was so important to Dan that at a young age he wanted to get baptized. In order to prove to his parents that he was ready, he took some magazines, got on his bike and went door-to-door down the street all by himself in Boonville, NY. He was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in a river on 7/15/1957, just one month shy of his 8th birthday and continued to serve Jehovah faithfully until his death.

Throughout the course of his life, he served as an elder in the Christian congregation for some 30 years. Being an elder was his identity. He LOVED caring for the flock, helping others to grow spiritually and strengthen their relationship with Jehovah. It was who he was at his core!

Some of the qualities Daniel possessed were humility, love, kindness and patience, to name a few. He was also courageous and bold, never shying away from discussing serious matters or sensitive material that others may have been uncomfortable presenting. His skillful use of illustrations and ability to reason with people in such a logical way, made it easy for them to accept and grasp ideas that might otherwise be difficult.

Daniel will truly be missed until all of Jehovah's promises are fulfilled by means of his kingdom. (Isaiah 55:10, 11; Matthew 6:9, 10) Some of these promises include resurrecting our dead loved ones, eradicating all sickness, pain, suffering, sorrow, death, wickedness and finally, restoring the earth to a paradise where all can live forever in perfect conditions. (John 5:28, 29; Revelation 21:3, 4; Psalms 37:10, 11 and 29)