I was so sorry to hear of Danny's passing. We were out of town during the funeral. I met Danny through my brother during their freshman year at Georgia Southern. In the 80's he bacame part of our Friday night bunch which consisted of dinner at Pizza Hut followed by the Braves game at Gerald's. Danny was there for us in sickness and health. We already miss him!
Larry Smith

I met the gentle soul that was Loron to me in the mid 70's; a sweetheart of a guy and music guru. I recently moved back to Statesboro and was fortunate to see Loron a couple of times. What a wonderful thing it is to see that some of the best things remain unchanged; Loron, that sweetheart of a guy and our music guru.

Another Statesboro (GSC) girl remembers a fine and gentle man who knew what music to play.  Rest in peace.

Danny was one of the nicest and most subtle of fine people I ever knew. Rest in peace, Stephen W.

Carol, So Sorry about your Brother. I will Be praying for you and your Family. God will give you Comfort in this time.
Marsha Boyd(rincon)

Loron "Danny" Toole was a dear friend of my dad's for as long as I can remember, plus probably twenty years. He plays a part in many of my first memories. I am lucky to have caricatures drawn by him for every period in my life. I remember so many afternoons watching the Braves with him and my dad, listening to them banter about music during commercials. Danny was always trying to expand my dad's musical horizons, which as Daddy grew older became comparatively stagnant (comparative to Loron Daniel Toole's ability to explore new bands or groups). 

When my dad had a heart attack last October, Loron was an ever-present fixture at the hospital. His attention and concern were touching and truly made me feel less alone. 

And again at my father's funeral this past April, he kindly complimented the choices I had made, particularly in playing a certain song my dad had always said he wanted at his funeral: Spirit In The Sky, by Norman Greenbaum. Apparently, this song also resonated with Loron; he told a mutual friend that he had claimed the song for his own final passage first! I have no reason to doubt the truth of this... and now, whenever I hear it, I will think of both of them.

Daddy and I loved Danny Toole. I will miss him, and always think of him with great fondness.


-Heidi Nicole Howard,
daughter of Gerald Howard

So many years have passed since those days in Statesboro, and at Georgia Southern College when I knew him, but who could ever forget the quiet, smiling "big guy" that everyone loved named "Danny?" 

I'm very grateful that our mutual friend Bill Neville took the time to capture in his post many of the details that I never knew about the "Coach" - such a life, and so well-lived!

I'd like to express my sincerest condolences to all family and friends.  

May you rest in God's peace now, my friend, Loren "Danny" Toole.

I remember Danny from when Marcus and I were in high school. I still have the Caricature he did of me from the fair one year. He was a wonderful, talented person and will be sorely missed. My sympathies to you, Mrs. Toole, Marcus and Ms. Caroline.

Danny was one of my first friends. from kindergarden with Ms Peeples(sp?)to graduation,
Danny was always a sweet guy.I am deeply saddened by his death.
He will always be remembered
with fondness.

May GOD bless and keep you Danny till we meet again.  love you always my brother in CHRIST   Johnny Hodges

Ginny, Carol, and Matt,
  I was so sorry to learn of Danny's death. He was such a talented young man, and I know he will be missed by do many.
I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers at this sad time.
Love,
June

I just found out about Danny this morning.  I first met him in the first grade at Sallie Z.  We discovered alot about the world together from those days.  He was a very taleted drummer and was a guru in his knowledge of musicians.  His Mom was a wonderful cook and was one of the Moms who took care of us.  His caracatures were always so lively and on the mark.  He had a heart the size of earth.  God is fortunate to now have such a person in heaven.  I am very sorry that I could not be at the funeral but Danny will always be in my heart.  Love to all family and friends from my family!  Kenny, Karen, David, Mathew and Meghan Hodges

Loron was our long time friend with a lot of talent and a lot of heart. He spent many years taking care of others and never complained about the responsibility.  We will miss him and his humour, a very gentle and kind man.  Mary and Mark Hanson

Danny, You will be missed by many. Thanks for being you.

This is a sad milestone to a friendship that has spanned more than four decades. And, we seemed to have passed too many such milestones in recent months.  

I first knew him as Danny Toole, a classmate at Statesboro High, after I moved to the 'boro in the mid-1960s. Later we called him Loron. But to many of his close friends he was known as "Coach," a nod perhaps to his profound love of baseball (something shared by his good friend and co-conspirator, Gerald Howard, who died a few months ago), but really a tribute to Loron's coachng of an intramural softball team at Georgia Southern made of of so-called hippies that was called The Green Trees. I cannot remember if the Green Trees won or lost, and it really doesn't matter. The experience created The Coach and that was enough. Legends of the Coach would always create a smile. It became a sort of running gag through the decades.

For a while in the late 1970s, Loron and I worked together at the Statesboro Herald -- he worked in ad alley and I worked on the news side. But I was able to use some of his original art in illustrating stories in the paper at times and also used one of his caricatures of me as a mug shot for my weekly column. 

He had a gift of being able to dissect facial features into a few lines and then to use those essential lines to create a caricature that in its apparent simplicity belied the talent it took to create it. He was a gifted artist. He was a gifted musician as well, playing drums with a number of local groups. He loved his family, and he loved his friends, he loved music and art and life. He was at peace with his Lord. 

One of his favorite tunes was the rockin' Jesus is Just Alright WIth Me, which was made a hit by the Doobie Brothers though the Coach would tell you without hesitation that the Byrds' version was better. Regardless of who played it, the Coach would quickly add that Jesus was just alright with him, too. 

When spring training rolls around next year, we'll miss your excitement that maybe, just maybe this would be the year the Braves would win it all. I like to think you and Gerald will be watching it all from the grandstands overlooking that Field of Dreams. 

Peace, brother.

I am so sorry to hear of Danny / Loron's passing.  He was a sweet and funny guy with a lot of talent and love for his family and friends.  It just seems like yesterday but I met Danny some time in 1970 while at GSU.  His taste in music, alone, was well appreciated by all of us. We have lost three close friends from that time in 2011 and they will be forever entwined in my memory. Danny/Loron, you will be missed.

I am so sorry about Loron's death!
Please accept my condolencies. 
I will be  thinking of the family
and keeping you in my prayers.

Loren was a friend of all at New Hope Methodist Church.He helped out where he was needed-I accompanied him on organ when he sang a solo at church.I treasure a sketch that he made of me{freckles and all}He will be truly missed! Alice and Aubrey Prosser

I was shocked and saddened by Loron's death. I first met him while at Georgia Southern College; he visited me and my roommate (Bill Neville) and always found him to be friendly, humorous and upbeat. A group of musicians practiced at the beauty salon. Our paths crossed over the years, primarily at art fairs where he would have his work on display. Later, I saw him often at Hardee's with another friend who recently died, Gerald Howard. I will miss Danny ( as he was called when I first met him).

OBITUARY

Loron Daniel Toole

September 14, 1951 – September 6, 2011

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