Daniel T. Hinds-Bond

Daniel Hinds-Bond, a self-taught graphic designer and computer engineer who performed at open mic nights at Chicago pubs and loved attending bluegrass and jam band festivals with his wife and two young sons, died April 2, 2025. He was 42.
He had a sharp intellect and a creative, versatile mind that enabled him to teach himself the guitar and mandolin and complex software programming.
Daniel's interests were just as eclectic. He collected board games and hosted an open game night every Thursday for years. He loved introducing friends to new games, from Castles of Burgundy to Hive to Captain Sonar. He was a lifelong LEGO fan who shared this love with his children, building cities and crazy creations together.
His brilliant, creative mind sometimes took him to a dark place. Daniel struggled with depression nearly his entire life. The sadness coexisted with joy. He was open about his battles and urged friends and colleagues dealing with similar issues to seek help, as he did.
Daniel Thomas Bond was born May 20, 1982, in Visalia, California, to Stephen and Jude (Scothorn) Bond. He moved with his parents and his older sister, Kerry, to Marietta, Georgia, as a child.
A self-described computer geek, Daniel was an indifferent student, preferring to teach himself coding and computer languages and anything else that caught his fancy.
He joined the drama club at Lassiter High School and was sitting in the auditorium reading a sci-fi novel one day early in his junior year when a new student, Jessica Hinds, saw him. She sat down next to him and told him that she had read it, too.
Daniel and Jessica saw each other on and off during their junior and senior year, and they went to the senior prom together - Dutch - with Daniel wearing a silver suit he bought at a thrift store and Jessica in a gown made by her mom in her favorite color, purple.
The summer after graduation, in 2000, Daniel and three friends followed Phish, selling grilled cheese sandwiches out of the back of the car. The next year, he moved to Auburn, Alabama, where Jessica was in college. Daniel got a job in a print shop and set out doing freelance graphic design.
They were married on June 25, 2005, at St. Margaret of Scotland Roman Catholic Church in Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Daniel designed the wedding invitations, creating a logo in purple and green.
Both took the combined last name Hinds-Bond.
The young couple wanted to live somewhere that was new to both of them. Philadelphia fit the bill and they settled there, with Daniel getting a job doing graphic design for a direct-marketing company.
In 2010 they moved to Chicago after Jessica was accepted to graduate school at Northwestern University.
They had two sons, Miles and Bastian, who adored their father. Daniel introduced his boys to his own favorite pastimes. They built LEGO cities together and read Shel Silverstein poems. "Hungry Mungry" was a favorite. Father and sons painted miniature three-dimensional fantasy and sci-fi models together.
Daniel shared with his sons his love of board games, and they played Bohnanza and Ticket to Ride for hours. Miles also liked to listen to podcasts with his father, laughing together at Death by Monsters. Bastian and Daniel liked to listen to music and make hemp bracelets.
The family went to music festivals together. At last year's Boats and Bluegrass festival in Winona, Minnesota, Daniel carried Bastian to the front row to see Them Coulee Boys, one of the family's favorite bands. And he arranged a surprise for Jessica, inviting her onstage during the High & Rising performance to re-propose to her, twenty years after his first proposal (also at a Minnesota music festival!).
Daniel created a wide circle of friends, meeting many of them when he played his guitar at open mic night at Chicago pubs. He was a regular at both Lighthouse Tavern and Glenwood Tavern, where he was part of the Struggle Bus Open Jam.
Among the songs he performed was Donal Hinely's "Drunkard Moon," and Yonder Mountain String Band's "A Father's Arms."
He had a dream gig at Dream Pod 9, a Montreal-based tabletop game publisher. Daniel worked in computer graphics and created the design and layout for several of the company's books, including Heavy Gear Blitz! Lock & Loaded and Heavy Gear Arena.
Daniel most recently worked as a senior engineer at ThreeFlow, a Chicago software benefits company. He continued to do freelance design work.
Daniel was so close to his many friends that he considered them chosen family. They mourn him along with his wife, Jessica, and sons, Miles and Bastian, all of Chicago; his father, Stephen, of Las Vegas; his mother, Jude, of Canton, Georgia; and his sister, Kerry Donovan, of Woodstock, Georgia.
A service will be held at 3 p.m. on May 3, 2025, at Lakeview Funeral Home in Chicago, with visitation beginning at 1 p.m., ahead of the service.
Instead of flowers, memorial donations can be made to a college fund for Daniel's children: https://everloved.com/life-of/daniel-hinds-bond/.