William Daniel

DANIEL, William Verner, 81, retired Richmond banker and community leader, died July 4, 2010. He was born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 16, 1928, one of four children of Channing and Katharine Daniel. He was a graduate of Episcopal High School (1946), and a member of its Athletic Hall of Fame. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia (1950), following which he began teaching at The Haverford School in Philadelphia while studying for his master's degree in English at the University of Pennsylvania. His teaching and graduate studies were interrupted by a call to service in the military. After a tour in Korea as an officer of the U.S. Army, he located in Richmond and began a long career in banking and finance. He was recruited from First & Merchants Bank to become the first president of the newly organized Metropolitan National Bank. He also served as president of First Virginia Bank, McLean, Va., and Southern Bank, Richmond, Va., before joining Wheat First Securities, as managing director and board member of WFS Financial Corporation, from which he retired in 1994. He was an early and longtime member of the Board of the James River Corporation and its successor, Fort James Corporation. Active in the Richmond community, he served as a member of the Richmond City Council (1970-72), the Citizens Legislative Committee, the Richmond Human Relations Commission and as moderator for the multi-year series, "Dialogues on Racial Relations" sponsored by the Metropolitan Richmond Chamber of Commerce. He was a former member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Richmond, Howard University, Washington, D.C., St. Catherine's School and The Collegiate School, both Richmond, Va., and the Board of Managers of the University of Virginia Alumni Association. He was a past chairman of the United Givers Fund Campaign (1973) and Salvation Army Capital Fund Campaign (1970) and a longtime member of the Board of Trustees of the Science Museum of Virginia. Especially interested in the fraternity system at the University of Virginia, he was appointed by President O'Neill in 1988 to head the newly formed Fraternity Alumni Council and later by President Casteen to the ad hoc Committee on the Future of Fraternities and Sororities. He was a founding member of the Historical Renovation Corporation, established to facilitate the restoration of fraternity houses at the University. An alumni advisor for over 40 years to St. Elmo Hall at the University of Virginia, he provided continuity and guidance to generations of undergraduates, oversaw two major renovations and raised the funding to permanently endow the fraternity house. At the 100th Anniversary of St. Elmo Hall, its back courtyard was permanently dedicated in his name. He was additionally recognized by both President Casteen and the Seven Society with proclamations for his significant service to the University of Virginia. He was the author of "Young at Heart," a personal memoir written 12 years ago, following his successful heart transplant surgery at the age of 69. Married for 57 years to Lucy Kellogg, they raised three children who survive him, Mary Mercer Daniel, Richmond, Va., Hampton Daniel Carey, Redding, Conn., and William Verner Daniel Jr., Charleston, S.C. Other survivors include two grandchildren, Allison Elliott Carey and


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.