James (Jim) Bennion

Sorry he to hear Dan died so early.  We had computer science class together back in 1978, back when we used punch cards.  He was a good person.  I do remember he had a push button transmission Dart.  He liked to put it in reverse, back up hard and push the forward button.  I wish his surviving family the best.

Jim Bennion

Daniel Knickerbocker (Meikle)

I just had a good phone conversation with Dan's wife, Esther, and his daughter, Sarah. Apparently Dan had a pin in his shoulder from our childhood days that started bothering him. He put off getting it checked out for a few years and finally decided it was time to have surgery to fix it. His family believes his body struggled with that and he had a cardiac arrest. 

Dan dealt with other health related issues. A few years ago he told me he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma and successfully overcame it. I didn't remember what it was until talking to Esther and Sarah. 

I remember the computer class we had in high school with Jim Bennion. Dan and Jim were much better at that than I was! I also remember being on the track team with Dan. He had powerful legs and was a great sprinter. I remember him always being nice to everyone in school. He had a great smile that was welcoming and always put me at ease.

After graduation Dan and I went up to Park City to celebrate. He was the only one I spent time with that night and it was good to hang out with him. We lost touch with each other and went our seperate ways, but I thought of him often. I finally looked him up and reached out to him a few years ago. After a few phone conversations, Dan came out to Utah for a conference. He let me know he was here and we got together and had dinner at Cafe Rio in Salt Lake. It was so nice to reconnect! That's when I learned of his having learned Russian in the military and how much he enjoyed speaking the language. Apparently it served him well in life. He still had that great iconic smile! 

When Esther sent me the text letting me know of his passing, it was tough. I will miss him. He was a great highschool friend.

Daniel Knickerbocker (Meikle)

The following is the eulogy prepared by Dan's daughter Sarah:

"Dad’s Eulogy:

On behalf of myself and my family, I would like to thank all of you for being here today and thank those that have sent their condolences. You all have played a vital part in helping us through this difficult time and I truly cannot emphasize enough how much it means to us.

              For those of you who don’t know my name is Sarah and I’m Dan’s eldest child and only daughter. Dan was the best father. He was known for his warm smile, jovial laugh, and his way of being kind and warm to everyone he met. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise to those of you that knew him that we had a very warm and open home growing up. All of our friends were constantly coming and going, they would walk in and out as they pleased, and were welcome anytime, sometimes even jokingly referring to our parents as their own. As much as we loved to tease him about it, we couldn’t blame him for not being able to keep everyone’s names straight.  More than once he was credited for teaching us and our friends how to eat ice cream “the proper way” which is with a big bowl and lots of toppings. One of his most enviable qualities however, was his uncanny ability to fall asleep within seconds on the couch… or wherever really.

Dan was born in Phoenix, Arizona in August of 1961. He became interested in computers starting at a young age which isn’t surprising given his job in computer science. Him and his family moved a few times growing up but he spent a substantial part of his formative years in Provo, Utah where he ultimately graduated high school at Provo High in 1979. In high school he participated in Track and Field, Chess, AV Club, Marching Band and apparently Football which none of us knew until we started going through his high school yearbooks. By his classmates he was described as “athletic” and “a funny Mormon”.  Reading through his yearbooks we couldn’t help but select a few of our favorite quotes to share with you all:

• “Dan – You’re such a great guy!! Social Dance was fun – wasn’t it? I’m glad I got to know you. Good luck in the future and in everything that you do! Stay the way you are and you’ll go far! Have a fun summer- hope to see you!”
• “It’s been really fun knowing you all these years and I hope you don’t die during this summer because you’re the only good sprinter left on the team”
• “Dan buddy I’ll never forget those huge powerful legs of yours. You’ve been a good friend and I hope to see you in the future”

And last but certainly not least:

• “Keep going for Carole, have a good Summer, and make sure you use all the Birth Control Devices Available”

After graduating high school, he enlisted and served 6 years in the Airforce including time stationed in Japan. He completed his undergrad at UMBC where he told me he met my mom “bowling”. I didn’t find out until my own college years that “bowling” was actually Mr. Pipps in Hanover, MD aka A Club. He then completed Grad School at Johns Hopkins and had a long successful career as a Systems Engineer. He was well regarded for his knowledge and skill set at work and was recognized by the government where he won an award for quality and productivity. He was a proud Father of Two, and an excellent role model to both myself and my younger brother Connor. He was a fighter and Survivor of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. But perhaps more terrifying, was his midlife crisis where he insisted on learning to ride motorcycles. He did ultimately get his license, but never pursued it further much to the relief of all of us.  

              Always youthful at heart and a certified nerd he loved Renascence fairs, Dungeons and Dragons, and to play video games including World of Warcraft and anything from the Mario Franchise with his family. He also loved movies, especially super hero movies like those from Marvel and DC comics as well as movies involving Sci Fi and Fantasy. He would frequently spout some of his favorite silly quotes from shows and movies and had a healthy T-shirt collection that reflected this. He especially loved to quote Monte Python but I don’t think he would approve of us referring to mom as a hamster and he certainly did not smell of elderberries. So more fittingly I’m going to paraphrase a quote from SpongeBob we would frequently say to each other “That guy’s a dork… yes but he’s our dork”. This was perfect for middle school me, who loved anime and could drag him (very willingly) to Otakon. He also enjoyed some friendly competition on family game nights, provoked by some smack talk by Connor of course, and it truly was “Inconceivable!” when he lost.

When we were young children, he would play something with us that we dubbed “the pillow game” where my brother and I would sprint back and forth full force in the living room from couch to ottoman and try to dodge him and his pillows of fury.  We loved this game but in hindsight was probably also a great way to take-out pent-up frustration on your children, who were incidentally the main perpetrators of said frustration. I bet he wishes he could have done that when he caught Connor as a young adult with an “overnight guest” that he snuck into the house. At first, he thought she was one of my friends who went into the hallway to use the restroom until she returned to Connors room instead of mine. In the morning he told him “I just want to let you know I saw your overnight friend; your mom would be upset if she knew but I won’t tell her”.

Dad you will truly be missed and I don’t know what we’re going to do without you here. I wish we could share one more of our vacations at Myrtle Beach, it’s been years since we went but we swear he enjoyed them despite his dislike of the sand, heat, and humidity. It pains me to know that you were robbed of your golden years. The several months long trips to Europe you wanted to take, the cooking skills you wanted to learn, and the D&D nights that would have been plentiful. You taught me what it was to be simultaneously soft and strong, to take life as it comes, be accepting and discerning of others, and you helped me to set up my internet more times than I can count. I would say we love you to the moon and back, but that doesn’t seem quite far enough. Rest easy."