LYDIA MCLANE CRUIKSHANK DANIEL

Lydia McLane Cruikshank Daniel

Lydia McLane Cruikshank Daniel, 87, died Friday, August 5, 2011. She is survived by her husband, Peter Vivian Daniel, Vice President and Treasurer Emeritus of Sweet Briar College. They were married in 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of the late Nan Maury Halsey Cruikshank of Philadelphia and the late Harrison Cruikshank of Cecil County, Maryland. Her brother, First Lieutenant Dabney Maury Cruikshank, was killed in action October 16, 1944, in Aachen Germany, during World War II. Her sister, Julia Ward Cruikshank McIIwaine (Mrs. William Baird McIIwaine, III) died in Concord, New Hampshire on August 19, 1998. Another sister, Helen Halsey Cruikshank Sadtler (Mrs. Seddon Bruce Sadtler) died August 24, 2006.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by her son, Peter Vivian Daniel, Jr. of Wilton, Connecticut; her grandsons Peter McLane Daniel and William Penn Daniel; and her son Dabney Maury Daniel and his wife Margaret McCluer Perry Daniel of Atlanta, Georgia.

Mrs. Daniel grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where she developed a strong interest in historic preservation, which she continued throughout her life. She was president of the Lynchburg Historical Foundation, Inc. and Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest Foundation, which was an early successful effort to restore Poplar Forest. She was chairman of the Lynchburg Committee of the Colonial Dames of America and active in the American Red Cross in Amherst, Virginia, and the Junior League of Lynchburg.

A memorial service will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lynchburg, Virginia at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 13, 2011. A reception will follow at St. John's Church. A private family committal will be held at the Sweet Briar Columbarium on Monument Hill.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Westminster Canterbury of Lynchburg General Endowment Fund, 501 V.E.S. Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503; or the Sweet Briar College Friends of the Arts Fund, P. O. Box 1051, Sweet Briar, VA 24595.

Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family, 434-237-9424. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.tharpfuneralhome.com.