Robert W. Daniel Jr.

Robert W. Daniel Jr.
Prince George - Robert Williams Daniel Jr., of Brandon Plantation, Prince George County, Va., died of cardiac arrest February 4, 2012 at Hobe Sound, Fla. Mr. Daniel, born March 17, 1936 in Richmond, Va., was a farmer, businessman, teacher, and politician who served five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican from 1972 until 1983. He was a graduate of Woodberry Forest School, Woodberry Forest, Va. He earned a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va., where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society and was a member of Phi Psi fraternity. He then received an MBA from Columbia University, was a financial analyst, and taught economics at the Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond. He served in the U.S. Army and CIA from 1964 to 1968. While in Congress, Mr. Daniel was a member of the House Armed Services Committee. He later served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, from 1984 to 1986, and as the Director of Intelligence, Dept. of Energy, from 1990 to 1993. He was a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. Mr. Daniel was the son of Charlotte Bemiss and Robert Williams Daniel, a bank executive who survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, and later served in the Senate of Virginia. He was a descendant of Peter V. Daniel, an Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court, and Edmund Randolph, who was the seventh Governor of Virginia, the first Attorney General of the United States and Secretary of State. Mr. Daniel was the owner and operator of Brandon Plantation, a U.S. National Historic landmark and one of the oldest continuous agricultural operations in the United States. Mr. Daniel is survived by his wife, Linda Hearne Daniel; two daughters, Charlotte Wray of Larchmont, N.Y. and Nell Daniel of Brooklyn, N.Y. and two step-daughters, Lesley Witt and Leanne Wood, both of Virginia Beach, Va.; and grand-children, Josephine, Max, Claudia, Quinn, Keeling, Peyton, Isabel, Spence and Ellyse. Mr. Daniel was predeceased by his son, Robert W. Daniel III. A funeral service will be held at Martin's Brandon Episcopal Church in Burrowsville, Va. at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 11, followed by interment at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Va. at 1:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Burrowsville Fire Department, 17300 James River Drive, Disputanta, VA 23842.