John MacDaniels

1934 - 2016

John Scott MacDaniels

August 25, 1934 - May 4, 2016

John Scott MacDaniels, a longtime resident of Palo Alto (but always an east coast man at heart), died on May 4th from a heart attack. He was born in New York State in 1934 to Gertrude and Clarence MacDaniels (both deceased). In 1940 the MacDaniels family moved to Summit, New Jersey where John spent his school years excelling in all sports, with baseball being his favorite. John's fondest memories were of Hemlock and Canandaigua Lakes in Upstate New York where his parents had a cottage. While growing up, all his summers were spent at "the lake."

Upon graduating from Summit High School, John was offered a contract with the N.Y. Yankees. His father promptly sent him off to Colgate University, where during his 2nd year he started dating his Summit High School classmate Joan Melillo. After two years (and a very cold winter), he applied to Stanford University and was accepted his junior year. While on Christmas break of his junior year, he stated he would not go back unless Joan married him and joined him in California. Joan happily accepted his proposal and they were married on New Year's Eve with a 9:00 p.m. flight from Newark to San Francisco. They arrived in Palo Alto on January 1, 1956. During his senior year, he decided to see if he could still play ball. He got in a few games and one of his coaches arranged for him to report to the Pittsburgh Pirates. But with a wife and child in the offing, he finally decided that major league baseball had passed him by. John graduated from Stanford with a Fine Arts Degree and was drawn to advertising as it combined his talents in art and writing, allowing him to come up with notable concepts. In 1957 they had a daughter, Dianne Scott MacDaniels, who was a shining light in their lives.

John joined Dailey and Associates in San Francisco (later Lowe Marchalk). They won the most awards in the S.F. Cable Car Awards competition for five of the first eight years. His famous quote at the agency was: "Everything that comes from this department must be good. It has to be done right." His advertising career in San Francisco spanned 30+ years, culminating with the formation of MacDaniels, Henry & Sproul. Later in life when asked by his colleagues if he had reached his goals, he responded with, "Yes, but I still haven't pitched for the Dodgers!" John was a unique, talented individual. His family feels so fortunate to have had him in their lives.

John is survived by Joan, his wife of 60+ years, his daughter Dianne, her husband David, sister Janet Mettee of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, cousins Sally Eldon (Dave) and Kimmy Chrysler, both of Canandaigua, N.Y., John Scott (Deborah) of Holland, MI, Julia Scott Van Dyke (Bob) of Avon, IN, numerous nieces and nephews and his ever present four-legged walking companion, Missy. John's sister Jean Holmes and brother-in-law Thomas Mettee predeceased him.

There will be no public service at John's request. His ashes will be buried in the Scott family plot in Wellsville, N.Y. and scattered (along with his best childhood memories) at Hemlock Lake. Please visit MemoriesofJohnMac@gmail.com if you would like to share a memory of John.