Daniel Alan Montgomery

Daniel Alan Montgomery Daniel Alan Montgomery of Charlottesville, Virginia, passed away on Friday, March 15, 2013, at the end of seventy full and well-lived years. Born in Toledo, Ohio, on March 16, 1942, Daniel was the son of the late James G. and H. Virginia Montgomery; and brother to the late James B. Montgomery. He graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1960 and completed a degree in Architecture from the University of Cincinnati, where he met his wife Alison. A month after their October, 1966 wedding, they left to serve as Peace Corps volunteers in Malaysia, a job that Daniel called his all-time favorite. It was in Malaysia that he began his architectural career, developing low-cost housing models using local materials, and he received an invitation to present his work at the University of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Returning in 1969, Daniel resumed his work as an architect with a Toledo firm. A year later, the couple moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where daughter, Leah, was born and where Daniel completed a Degree in Regional Planning at the University of Michigan. Meanwhile, he worked for the City of Ann Arbor, managing the environmental impact of development projects and introducing a container recycling program that is in effect throughout the state today. Five years at Pennsylvania State University followed, where Daniel taught as an Associate Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, and during which time his daughter Anna was born. Daniel joined Mr. Jefferson's University in 1983, working first in landscape design and management then moving into Capitol Project Management. He retired from the University of Virginia in 2000 and began his new and final career as a massage therapist. In architecture, massage, and in life, Daniel was a three-dimensional thinker. In architecture and landscape he loved working to the needs and wishes of his clients and users. Through massage he touched and healed many with sincere appreciation and attention to the needs of each client. Daniel enjoyed tennis, Nia, his tractor, building forts for his grandchildren, and spending time lighting up the lives of his friends and family. He was a gifted listener, a compassionate man, and a quiet, hardworking advocate for peace, wildlife, and the land. We will all miss him while enjoying his legacy and his humor though memory and story. Daniel's wife Alison, and the families of his daughters, Leah Montgomery and Anna Sullivan, invite all who would like to participate in a celebration of our wonderfully loving husband and father and beloved friend to many to join them at the Montgomery's home, 3232 Horseshoe Bend Road in Charlottesville, Virginia, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2013. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to one of Daniel's favorite charities, Heifer International, Doctors Without Borders, Interfaith Alliance, Wilderness Society, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, League of Women Voters.

This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.