As read at his funeral
Dan was born in Peterborough and lived here all his life, brought up by his Mum, Angie, with his elder sister, Cheri.
His Grandparents Bernie and Ann were a big part of Dan’s life as he was growing up along with his Uncle Paul.
Dan was an outgoing and cute toddler, there are memories of him getting a new coat and enjoying showing it off to everyone; and he loved his new trainers so much that he would have slept in them if he could – poor Angie had to prise them off him!
Dan really enjoyed his time at Winyates Primary School, especially the acting and singing he did there, as well as playing in the football team with the twins, Josh and Joe. He also loved riding his bike with his friend, Mark, and going on camping and hiking trips.
He moved up to Orton Longueville Secondary School where, as a teenager he developed his interest in computers and gadgets of all kinds.
Angie remembers playing scrabble and bike rides to Ferry Meadows and stopping to see the animals at Notcutts. Friday nights was goodies night, with sweets and treats in front of the tv and playing board games in the winter , or football over the field in the summer.
Dan was close to his mum Angie. After his sister had left the family home it was just the two of them for 7 years whilst Dan was going through secondary school, with all the trials and tribulations that brings! bringing up a teenage son was both exciting and sometimes taxing, but the bond between them was obvious to anyone that knew them. Faith was a big part of their lives at this time and they were active members of a large congregation who were part of Dan’s life since he was a baby. He became more involved as he got older and was loved by many, some of whom are here today to pay their respects.
In his 20’s Dan moved in with his sister, and shortly afterwards he met Helen who was the love of Dan’s life. They shared many good times, moving into their first house together and getting engaged, they had holidays abroad, many wild nights out and even went to the gym together to make up for the inevitable excesses. They were a massive part of each other’s lives.
When Dan was 21, Freddie – his future Step Dad came into his life, along with Millie, Freddie’s daughter, who became Dan’s step-sister. Freddie tried to be a good role model for Dan, helping him to secure his first job with Shield Technologies – Starting his career in I.T.
He then moved jobs to Carter Jonas in Priestgate for the last few years. He loved his job and all those years playing with PC’s for fun really paid off. He made some good friends as well as earning new qualifications in his field. Tim, his manager described Dan as, “A blue-eyed boy loved by everyone, who was an integral part of the company and was going places”.
Through all those times, Dan was always very close to his sister Cheri and Jonny her husband, who became a really good friend as well, often to the detriment of Cheri who was outnumbered and thrown off the PlayStation!. In the last year he moved back into their home with them and was especially proud to become an uncle to their two children – Rosie and Jude, who he loved spending time with and occasionally winding up!
Dan was very much into his fashion and took great pride in his appearance . He loved going to the gym, but was just as likely to be found on his PlayStation till the early hours. He adored his cars, although it is fair to say that being a passenger when Dan was driving was not always the most relaxing experience!
As a person, he will be remembered as a straight-talker, someone who told it as it was and was honest – sometimes painfully so! . You knew you could trust Dan to tell you the truth. He was also a clever young man with a wicked sense of humor, sensitive, focussed, and with great drive and ambition. All those qualities made Dan the very special person he was to his family and friends.
There are so many memories of Dan that are typical of the many good times he had . Things like his love of music; his love/hate relationship with the family cats, Molly and Charlie; spending evenings with his close friends ,playing cards and eating Subways with Mando, and frequent trips to the cinema with Matt to see the latest blockbuster.
On the other hand, there was Dan’s healthy eating – on a Sunday he would often spend all day carefully preparing his food for the week ahead but would then have a ‘cheat day’ and eat three McDonald’s! or his liking for chocolate, especially Dairy Milk and Whole Nut – a family size bar in a single sitting was not unusual! .
We can’t forget Dan’s thoughtfulness and generosity. Angie always wanted to see the singer, Paloma Faith, perform live – how lovely it was that Dan and Cheri bought Angie tickets to see her in Birmingham.
Those are just some of the memories of Dan, who was loved by so many people and will be so sadly missed by everyone who knew him.