Gilbert S. Daniels

Gilbert S. Daniels

Athens, OH - Gilbert S. Daniels age 92, of Athens, Ohio (formerly of Indianapolis, Indiana) died peacefully on April 14, 2020 at Kimes Convalescent Center. Born June 19, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, he was preceded in death by his parents, Herman and Rosamond Daniels; first wife and mother of his children, Kathleen; and last wife, Emily. He is survived by three children, Deborah Daniels (Athens, OH), Geoffrey Daniels (Hollywood, MD), and Gregory Daniels (Apollo, PA); five grandchildren, Michael, Nichol, Geoffrey Jr., Autumn, and Sara; and four great-grandchildren, Talia, Keagan, Luna, and Milo.

Gilbert's lifelong love of horticulture and botany began at an early age when he became the youngest participant (at age 7) in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden children's program. He continued to participate until leaving for college at the age of 17.

In 1944 he was one of 40 students from across the U.S. to be selected as a winner in the 3rd Annual Science Talent Search for the Westinghouse Scholarships with his paper titled "Research in the Drug Industry" which focused on the future use of plants in pharmacology.

Graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School that same year, Gilbert went on to attend a Navy pre-med program at Cornell University, then majored in physical anthropology at Harvard University. His next stop was the Air Force where he was project engineer (physical anthropologist) in the Aero-medical Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio, where he met his first wife, Kathleen, and had his first exposure to early 1950s computers. This led to a series of positions in the computer industry over the next 12 years when, in 1965, he quit the "computer rat race" and began his pursuit of the Doctorate of Botany at UCLA.

In 1965 Gilbert became Assistant Director of the Hunt Botanical Library at Carnegie Mellon, then Director from 1970 to his retirement in 1977. As director he transformed the Hunt Library into the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, expanding the collection to include botanical art and artists, and other ephemera.

The remaining years of Gilbert's life were spent with his late wife Emily, of Indianapolis, who he met while leading a botanical tour on the Amazon for the American Horticultural Society. For 30 years they maintained a renowned garden in Indianapolis. Photographs of their garden, collected by the Garden Club of America, are archived at the Smithsonian Institution.

A well-known editor and author of many horticultural and botanical publications, Gilbert's support for horticulture, botany, zoology and art included leadership roles in many organizations including

•American Horticultural Society 1969-1983 (treasurer 1971-74, first vice-president 1974-78, and president 1978-82, acting executive director 1983)

•Garden Conservancy (Advisory Committee)

•Heliconia Society International (president 1986-89)

•Indianapolis Museum of Art (Horticultural Society)

•Indianapolis Zoo (Horticultural Committee)

•Organization for Tropical Studies

•PC Globe, Inc 1988-1992 (president 1991-92)

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Gilbert's memory to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, children's programming.