Daniel KOMARNICKI

1926 - 2021

KOMARNICKI, Daniel of St. Petersburg, Florida, passed from this earthly life on April 29, 2021 to spend eternity with his parents, Joseph and Anna; all nine of his siblings, Mary, Michael, John, Victoria, Joseph, George, David, Paul, and James, and his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dan was 94 at the time of his passing and is survived by one son, Thomas Paul (Debbie) Komarnicki of Clearwater, Florida, and two grandchildren, Thomas Daniel Komarnicki of San Francisco and Kathryn Alexandria Komarnicki of New York City. He was predeceased by his eldest son, Daniel Joseph Komarnicki, in 2014, his first wife, Alice (Bell), and his second wife, Marsha (Mock), both in 2019. Dan was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on August 24, 1926, number six in the lineup of ten children. He attended Chester High School and excelled on the gridiron for the Clippers earning the nickname Bronco for his hardnosed running style. After his high school graduation in 1944, he immediately joined the United States Navy and served with distinction in the Pacific during World War II. He came back to Chester after the war and resumed his teenage wartime job with the U.S. Postal Service. Dan was the first of his family to attend college, receiving a bachelor's in psychology and theology from King's College in 1955. He played on the basketball and baseball teams as well. His walk-off steal of home in the bottom of the ninth was his fondest sports memory. He also played semi-professional football for the Glen Burnie Athletic Club and was named All Delaware County. He then dedicated his life to Christian education and earned a master's degree in religious studies from the Young Life Institute. At the request of Young Life USA founder, Jim Rayburn, Dan left his home in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in 1957 and headed to North Carolina with his young family to establish Young Life in the southern states. The organization in this region now boasts a staff of over 70. In 1968, Dan published a book, Teenagers Are People: A New Concept. Throughout his life Dan received frequent communication from men and women he had led to Christ as teenagers. In his senior years Dan was blessed to live near his son Tom, with whom he shared a love of family and a love of sports. Dan and Tom attended numerous Tampa Bay Rays games together every baseball season and spent most fall Sunday afternoons watching NFL games at Tom's house. Dan was a two-time champion of the highly competitive Ukrainian Fantasy Football League well into his eighties. Dan greatly appreciated the gracious Tampa Bay Rays staff, the Care Ride drivers that made his wheelchair trips possible, his friends at Winston Park, and mostly his caregivers that came to his home every day so that he could live independently almost to the end. At the time of his passing, Dan was in hospice care at the Veterans hospital in Bay Pines, Florida, where he enjoyed many friendships among the staff. In lieu of flowers, you may make contributions in Dan's name to: www.DavidsTableOnline.org. The organization works with teenagers and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and its mission statement can be viewed at https://www.younglife.org/ForEveryKid/Capernaum