Obituary for Jeffrey Wayne McDaniel
Jeffrey W. McDaniel, a loving husband and devoted father, went to be with the Lord on the morning on July 23rd, after his admirable endeavor against Alport Syndrome. He was born April 21st, 1967 in Lancaster, CA to Larry and Kathleen (Wenta) McDaniel. He attended Sunnydale Elementary School, and Santa Cruz High School. He graduated from Heald College with a degree in Computer Science. He then continued on to work at many companies such as Nano Metrics, Comtek, and Intel, working on computer servers.
Jeff is survived by his parents, Kathleen Wenta and Larry McDaniel. He leaves behind his adored wife, Susan Venegas-McDaniel, and his two beloved children, Cassandra McDaniel and James McDaniel; his brothers, Erin McDaniel, Jason McDaniel, and half-brother Luis Lopez. Jeff was a deeply devoted family man, who cherished any and every moment spent with his family, who will all intensely miss him.
Jeff grew up to have a hard exterior, and was always his younger brother’s strongest protector, but he was an angel molded in a rough shell. On October 23, 1985 he met his wife, Susan. He was sitting on the stairs in between their apartments, reading a book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and they both said “Hey” to each other. Since then, Susan was the Yin to his Yang. They spent their days together exploring Santa Cruz and always pushing each other to be the best versions they could be. On July 16, 1998, they had their first child, Cassandra and she and him became best friends since day one. On March 25th, 2004, he met his son, James, who he was endlessly proud of the man, and best friend, he became.
He enjoyed being with his family. His family and him could talk for hours, go on drives together, watch TV and movies, listen to music, draw, or any other endless activities together. His enthusiasm for music was a huge part of his life. He spent time noodling on one of his many guitars and showing others his riffs he created, either to share his love for music or to help teach his children to play bass or guitar. He was always passionate about art, and drawing portraits and monsters, a skill he passed onto his children. He would draw roses and fairies for his wife and daughter. More than this all, he would spend hours sitting and talking to his children sharing his vast knowledge from history and philosophy, to art and literature, and teaching them life lessons and words of wisdom. He never missed an opportunity to teach truth, strength, loyalty, justice and integrity. As good a man as Jeff was, he still had a side to him that was wildly sarcastic. From his down to earth and caring nature, to his moments of gallow’s humor, Jeff will be tremendously missed, but never forgotten.
Jeff’s wishes were to be cremated, and to be scattered over a body of water. So if you see a boat blasting Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, just know, it is his wife and kids laying him to eternal rest.
Permanent online condolences, stories and photos may be shared at www.hhlohmeyer.com.
Jeff is survived by his parents, Kathleen Wenta and Larry McDaniel. He leaves behind his adored wife, Susan Venegas-McDaniel, and his two beloved children, Cassandra McDaniel and James McDaniel; his brothers, Erin McDaniel, Jason McDaniel, and half-brother Luis Lopez. Jeff was a deeply devoted family man, who cherished any and every moment spent with his family, who will all intensely miss him.
Jeff grew up to have a hard exterior, and was always his younger brother’s strongest protector, but he was an angel molded in a rough shell. On October 23, 1985 he met his wife, Susan. He was sitting on the stairs in between their apartments, reading a book by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and they both said “Hey” to each other. Since then, Susan was the Yin to his Yang. They spent their days together exploring Santa Cruz and always pushing each other to be the best versions they could be. On July 16, 1998, they had their first child, Cassandra and she and him became best friends since day one. On March 25th, 2004, he met his son, James, who he was endlessly proud of the man, and best friend, he became.
He enjoyed being with his family. His family and him could talk for hours, go on drives together, watch TV and movies, listen to music, draw, or any other endless activities together. His enthusiasm for music was a huge part of his life. He spent time noodling on one of his many guitars and showing others his riffs he created, either to share his love for music or to help teach his children to play bass or guitar. He was always passionate about art, and drawing portraits and monsters, a skill he passed onto his children. He would draw roses and fairies for his wife and daughter. More than this all, he would spend hours sitting and talking to his children sharing his vast knowledge from history and philosophy, to art and literature, and teaching them life lessons and words of wisdom. He never missed an opportunity to teach truth, strength, loyalty, justice and integrity. As good a man as Jeff was, he still had a side to him that was wildly sarcastic. From his down to earth and caring nature, to his moments of gallow’s humor, Jeff will be tremendously missed, but never forgotten.
Jeff’s wishes were to be cremated, and to be scattered over a body of water. So if you see a boat blasting Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, just know, it is his wife and kids laying him to eternal rest.
Permanent online condolences, stories and photos may be shared at www.hhlohmeyer.com.