Richard Dana

1935 - 2026

Richard Dana
07/08/1935 - 02/22/2026
Richard Sherman Dana was born in 1935 in Houston, Texas where he spent happy years before moving to that gracious gem of a city, San Francisco, California, in the early 1950's. San Francisco took him into its heart where he spent the rest of his life. For 38 years, he worked for a great employer, the Internal Revenue Service as a tax auditor, meeting many interesting taxpayers. For most of those years he also served as a Union Steward and Union Board Member, and worked with the best coworkers he said you would ever want to meet, some of whom became lifelong friends. Upon retirement in 2001, he became a volunteer tutor, for over a decade, at San Francisco Francis Scott Key Elementary School with amazing students, faculty and staff. Richard enjoyed good food and drink and loved going to the opera, ballet and classical music concerts.
Richard wanted to thank all his loved ones for his happy life. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, he said, all I ever hoped to be I owe to my angel mother, Theresa Dana. Alas, how can anyone live up to the example of an angel? Last, but most important, he said he could not have survived his declining years without the love and help of his wonderful, brilliant niece, Judy.
Richard died peacefully on February 22, 2026 with his closest relative by his side. He lived for 90 years, and lived exactly as he wanted to, enjoying life to the fullest. He wanted a special thanks to go to his amazing caregiver, Selamawit Weldeslasse, who was more like a member of his family, standing by and supporting him for 15 years. He also wanted to thank his landlady, Lynn DeSmet, for her love and taking him under her wing since 2001, and his neighbor, Dawn Harms. He is survived by his nieces Judith Clarke and Terry Lanier, Terry's husband, Hudson Lanier, Richard's great niece and nephew who he was very fond and proud of, Lilli Lanier and Max Lanier, and his great great niece and nephew, Lucia Soriano and Izmael Soriano.
He did not want a funeral or service of any kind, and no flowers, but instead wished you to give to a charity of your choice or one of his favorites, San Francisco SPCA; St. Joseph's Indian School Lakota (Sioux), South Dakota; Veterans organizations; or San Francisco State University, in his memory.