Dan Szymanski

Dan Szymanski passed away late afternoon on March 12, 2026 at the age of 76 following a continuing bout with cancer.

He was born Daniel Patrick Szymanski in Dansville NY on July 8, 1949, the son of the late Theodore and Helen Szymanski of Sparta and the 4th child of 8 children. He grew up in Dansville NY, where he attended: St. Patrick's and Holy Name schools serving proudly as an altar boy; West Palm Beach FL during his junior high years; and Harlingen TX during his senior high years. He spent several years of his early adult life residing in Tempe AZ, Dallas TX and San Francisco CA.

At 6'2", he was our gentle giant with the patience and generous support his younger siblings treasured. A superb athlete all of his life, he excelled in football, basketball, skiing and bicycling...he was a role model to us all. He had farming in his blood and worked hard for many years to promote and improve our family farm, happiest when he was driving the tractors. And when any of them "broke", he got increasingly skillful at fixing them until he became a master mechanic. His natural curiosity and interest in nature combined with a love of reading stayed with him all his life. He could stand toe-to-toe with many experts in his knowledge of history, government, geography and politics. His innate sense of fairness and imbedded sense of chivalry toward those more vulnerable made him beloved by many. And if you wanted someone to actually listen to what you had to say with civility and an open mind, Dan was your man.

He had the voice of an angel if that meant a well-pitched rich tenor which he showed to advantage in chorus, car karaoke and at our annual family reunions, bonfires and Christmas caroling sessions. A wry sense of humor often laced with sarcasm along with his running commentaries on life and movies and people made his company especially welcome. And we will never forget his love of all manner of animals, particularly horses, cats and dogs... he loved them and they loved him. He had an artistic side that revolved around drawing, painting, sculpting and as most boys in the 1950's and 60's, he loved assembling and displaying his many model airplanes and battleships. As our burgeoning NASA space program took off, Danny was at Cape Canaveral looking towards the heavens with hundreds of others at many of the launches. He was a kind and decent man and he will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Danny is survived by one sister, Judith Szymanski (Rochester NY); 4 brothers, Bob and Lori Szymanski (Arkport NY); Jim and Donna Szymanski (Henrietta NY); Ron Szymanski (Freeville NY); Charles Szymanski and Kerri Vaughn (Sparta NY); sister-in-law Sandi Szymanski (Livonia NY); beloved friend Dawn Gilbert Schmidt (Dansville NY). Also, by his nieces and nephews, Doug and Angela Szymanski (Ontario NY); Jeff and Penny Szymanski (Rochester NY); Veronica Cator-Szymanski (Brooklyn NY); Naomi Cator-Szymanski (Nedrow NY): Noble Cator-Szymanski (Freeville NY); grandniece Samantha Dey; grandnephews Ayden Szymanski-Koontz (Livonia NY) and Nathanael Szymanski (Ontario NY). Pre-deceased are his father Theodore (1987), his mother Helen (2010); his brother Ted (2008); his sister Cathy (2020) and his grandniece Marlys Szymanski-Koontz.

As per Danny's request, there will not be a funeral service. But please send any remembrances of him to our farm at 8337 Kuhn Road, Dansville NY 14437 or by leaving a message on the tribute wall on this page as it would be a great gift to us to share these reminiscences with our family.

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