Official Obituary ofThomas G. Daniel

Thomas G. "Gerry" Daniel, MD, Colonel, USAF (ret'd)
Thomas G. "Gerry" Daniel was rewarded for a long life of service early February 6, when he passed away peacefully in his sleep. He would have turned 92 eleven days later. Gerry was raised in the one-horse town of Canton, Oklahoma by two hard-working parents. He worked his way through Phillips University as an ambulance driver, railroad worker, roofer, and any other odd job he could find. He met the love of his life, Dorcas Brown, at Phillips, and they married right after graduation. When Gerry set his sights on medical school, joining the Air Force was the only way to pay for it. The Air Force also picked up the tab for his training in thoracic and vascular surgery. He paid his debt by practicing medicine as a military officer for 20 years, serving for a time as the only thoracic surgeon in an Air Force hospital west of Texas. He was trained as a flight surgeon, and was honored to have been chosen as a member of the emergency launch site recovery team (fortunately never needed) for all NASA SkyLab launches as well as the Apollo-Soyuz mission to space. He volunteered to spend 1971 at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, where he was chief of surgery. He was Chief of Staff at David Grant Medical Center, Travis AFB, and cared for the Vietnam POWs when they were released in 1973. He retired from the Air Force in 1976 and moved the family to Phoenix.
In Phoenix, Gerry focused his practice in the West Valley – Boswell, Thunderbird, Arrowhead, and Del Webb hospitals. He was a devoted member of Sun City Christian Church. He and Dorcas spent as much time as possible at their second home in Munds Park. They also traveled extensively. Gerry retired from medicine in August 1991 at the ripe, old age of 59, and threw himself into church and community service. He loved his time building homes with Habitat for Humanity. For his 60th birthday, he decided to go to Guatemala with a church-sponsored group to help build and renovate homes. He met a Guatemalan pastor and sponsored him and his family to move to Arizona to serve the Spanish-speaking community. He also stayed active with the boards of Sun Health Foundation, Sun City Christian Church, and eventually his HOA. Gerry had the supreme self-confidence required to perform surgery, and to believe he could do almost anything around the house. He laid flooring and installed cabinets. He had an enormous garden. He became enamored with making pasta but stopped after gaining ten pounds. He tried cooking, but even he recognized that his meals did not look or taste good. He fancied himself quite an athlete, often recounting his time as a (small, skinny) running back in high school. He broke his clavicle playing touch football and his ankle playing volleyball, both in church leagues. His teenage children were mortified; he was the only dad on the teams. He wanted more than anything to beat his son-in-law at golf, but it never happened. For the last two years, Gerry resided at Huger Mercy Living Center, and the staff took wonderful care of him. We thank them for all their kindness and good humor.
Gerry lost his beautiful, beloved wife in November 2021, and we trust they are reunited for eternity. He is survived by his children Lisa Daniel Flores (Victor), Thomas Daniel (Tony DellaBarca), and Scott Daniel (Fonda), and his granddaughter Elena Flores, as well as his extended family in Oklahoma and Ohio. Services will be private.