Daniel Victor Sanchez
June 15, 1955 - December 7, 2025
Born in San Antonio on June 15, 1955, to Concepción and Leonor Sanchez, Daniel attended St. Mary Magdelen elementary school and then Central Catholic High School, where he actively participated in the school’s ROTC program and student newspaper. Continuing his academic trajectory, he entered the University of Notre Dame in August 1973, completing a double major in International Relations/Political Science and Economics and graduating with honors. As an undergraduate, he received an Army ROTC scholarship while taking on increasing responsibilities at the daily student-run campus newspaper, The Observer, where he served as the publication’s Managing Editor during his senior year.
In his various roles on the newspaper, he met Mary, a staff writer and student editor from St. Mary’s College. They were married at the Basilica on the Notre Dame campus in the midst of a blizzard during Thanksgiving weekend, 1977. After earning a Danforth Fellowship from Notre Dame to continue his academic studies, Dan was granted a deferment from active duty for 2 years to complete a Master’s degree in political science, which included a dissertation on nuclear proliferation. His US Army assignments as an Air Defense officer over the following 4 years included Italian language training at the Defense Language School in Monterey, California and serving as Executive Officer over several NATO/Italian Air bases in northern Italy. He separated from active duty in 1983 as a Captain, earning the Army Commendation Medal.
Over the next 20 years after leaving the Army, Dan lived with his family primarily in the Chicago area and worked in Marketing and advertising for both Fortune 500 corporations and smaller independent firms as product manager for Folgers Coffee with Proctor and Gamble, breakfast pastries with Sara Lee, and Switzer licorice with Leaf Candy before launching his own national Spanish-language advertising firm in 1993. Among his clients were Kellogg Corporation, Corona beverages, Democratic National Committee, City of Chicago, NutraSweet, Jewel-Osco (Albertson’s). He generously contributed his talents to a number of charities, including America’s Second Harvest (Feeding America), Spanish Coalition for Jobs, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Boys and Girls Clubs of Chicago, and several Latino scholarship programs; he also helped create the first Hispanic Broadcasting School in Pilsen, Chicago.
In 2003 Dan left the business community and returned to Texas to be closer to family, during which time he resumed his academic career, teaching Government and Political Science at a number of colleges and universities in the San Antonio area. His many interests included carpentry, animal rescue, music, and classic movies.
He retired from teaching in 2020. In the Fall of 2021, he developed a series of serious health conditions that increasingly limited his mobility. In November of this year, he underwent heart surgery in Austin; he was on the road to recovery, looking forward to returning home by Christmas, when he unexpectedly passed away.
Daniel is survived by his wife Mary, adult children Caroline (Kris), Patricia, William (Kristin), and Theresa, three grandsons and numerous cousins, nephews and nieces and a sister Sylvia; he is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Dora and a brother David. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Services are planned as follows: Wednesday, December 17, 2025 Visitation at 9 am, followed by the Mass of Christian Burial at 10 am at St. Ferdinand Catholic Church in Blanco, TX. Burial at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio is scheduled for 10:45 the following day, December 18, 2025.
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