ARTHUR GRAVES DANIEL
Reverend Arthur G. Daniel, Ft. Wayne, died September 11, 2006. He was born November 30, 1923, in Syringa, Middlesex County, Virginia, very near the Chesapeake Bay, to Howard Ashby and Hilda Graves Daniel. Both his parents'' ancestors were among the first families to settle Virginia. His family moved to New York City when he was four years old. Many summers he returned to Virginia to work on his Uncle''s farm and be with family. In the city, he worked as a shoeshine boy ("a nickel a shine"), a clerk in a drug store/pharmacy/soda fountain, and at Chase Manhattan Bank. As a young man, he was given the opportunity to try out with the Philadelphia Athletics professional baseball organization - he honed his baseball skills playing "stick ball" in the streets of New York City as a kid. He received his B.A. from Shurtleff College, in Alton, Illinois, in 1944, with a major in Religion and Social Services, and an English minor. In 1949, he graduated with his Masters of Divinity, from Southern Baptist Seminary, in Louisville, KY. During his seminary days, he worked loading freight in railway box cars, as a post office mail carrier, preaching in a country church, working with teenagers in a YMCA, and managing a small short order restaurant, among other jobs. He returned to New York City and received his Masters in Education from N.Y.U. He was ordained as an American Baptist minister in June, 1950, at the First Italian Baptist Church, in Brooklyn, where he also served as pastor. He then moved to Illinois to work for the state office of the American Baptist Convention as a fund raiser for Churches for New Frontiers. He was commissioned to build and organize the first of those churches in Quincy, IL. Arthur married Virginia Renetzky White, on May 15, 1954, in Springfield, Illinois. She joined him in the challenging mission of building Grandview Baptist (Quincy, IL). Their "calling" was to "build" and "grow" churches. Their ministry included Elliott Avenue Baptist (Springfield, IL), First Baptist (Bedford, IN), Memorial Baptist (Ft. Wayne, IN), First Baptist (Toledo, OH), and ten Interims following his retirement from full time ministry in 1985, before final retirement in 2000 after fifty-two years of faithful service. One of his greatest gifts was pastoral ministry, in particular visitation and his service to the sick, dying, and the brokenhearted. His community service included extensive counseling, organizing senior citizen centers and Meals on Wheels programs in Bedford and Ft. Wayne, and numerous ecumenical activities. He is survived by his wife, Virginia; his five sons, Terry W. (Ann), Arthur G., Jr. (Gene), Bryan D. (Beth), Mark D. (Janet) and John M. (Amy); his sister, Berta Wray (Philip) Hughey; and eleven grandchildren, Bethany, Jason, Bryan, Jessica, Estelle, Cora, Claire, Sierra, Hope, Emma and Grace; and seven great grandchildren, Hanna, Cameron, Will, Lauren, Kingsley, Jack and Luke; and many dear nieces, nephews, other family members and countless friends. Many remember Arthur for his contagious smile, sense of humor, and the way he lit up the room. Visitation will be on Wednesday, from 5PM to 8PM, at Covington Memorial Funeral Home, 8408 Covington Road, Ft. Wayne. Funeral services will be on Thursday, at 1:00 PM, with visitation one hour prior at First Wayne Street United Methodist Church, 300 Wayne Street, Ft. Wayne. Burial in Covington Memorial Gardens. The family's preferred memorial is Parkview Hospice, 1900 Carew St., Suite 6, Ft. Wayne, IN, 46805
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