SACO — Daniel Charles Garland died unexpectedly at the age of 42 on Jan. 26, in Florida, during a business trip.
He was the much beloved husband of Shannon M. MacDonald, M.D.
Dan was born Sept. 25, 1972, in Portland, to Charles Preston Garland and Ann Bush Garland.
When he was four, his family moved from Falmouth to Saco. He was educated in Saco schools and attended Thornton Academy, before choosing to spend his last two years of high school at Deerfield Academy, from which he graduated in 1991.
He graduated from Connecticut College and received an MBA from Babson College’s Olin Graduate School of Management.
He worked for information technology companies American Technical Resources and Lucent Technologies before joining Garland Manufacturing Company. With the retirement of his father from the company in December 2010, Daniel became President of the company, the 6th generation of his family to lead the small manufacturing business in Saco. He enjoyed working with his cousin, James, at the company.
On Nov. 7, 2007, he married Shannon, a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, whose love, compassion and companionship were the most important part of his adult life.
Dan had a keen intellect and a sharp wit. He was a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist, Maine Academic Decathlon medalist, Maine State Spelling Bee winner, emergency medical technician, and a summer intern in the U.S. Senate Computer Center.
He loved childhood summers at Camp Winona in Denmark, Maine, and a summer spent as a counselor at Ramapo Anchorage Camp in Rhinebeck, New York, for troubled 4-to 6-year-olds.
He had a wide range of interests and a remarkable memory for detail ”“ history, current events, the world of business, people and places. He enjoyed experiencing new places and especially treasured the times he and his family, and in recent years, he and Shannon were able to travel together for both business and pleasure. He and Shannon developed a deep love for the small island of Vieques, Puerto Rico and the time they spent there.
He loved Boston Bruins hockey and generously shared his tickets with family and friends and with children undergoing treatment for cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital.
He loved trying new restaurants, cooking meals at home and, especially, summer gatherings where he prepared wonderful smoked meats on a commercial smoker that he regularly hauled up to a friend’s family camp at a lake in central Maine.
He cared deeply for the people he worked with and enjoyed the challenge of leading an American manufacturing company. He loved finding special gifts for his family ”“ at Christmas and throughout the year. He especially treasured spending time with friends and sharing his life with the woman he deeply loved. He also loved Calvin and Hobbes and homemade Chex mix.
Daniel grew up skiing and loved the mountains of Maine (especially Sugarloaf) and New Hampshire. He was an expert skier and captained his college ski team. Unfortunately, loss of much of his vision to a rare mitochondrial disease, Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropahty, when he was 32, followed by bilateral hip replacement following steroid treatment in an effort to reverse or stop vision loss, ended his ability to enjoy the sport he had begun as a very young child.
Eventually, his vision improved enough to allow him to drive again and to return to another of the joys of his life ”“ reading.
Daniel is survived by: his wife, Shannon; parents, Charles and Ann Garland; sister, Jill Lawrence Garland and her fiancée Jason Scott Amster; his extended Garland and MacDonald/O’Connell families, including his much-beloved nephew and godson, Keegan O’Connell, and Keegan’s brothers, Declan and Aedan and sister Maeve, with whom he enjoyed spending time, and their parents, Thomas and Lara O’Connell.
The wake will take place on Thursday, Feb. 5 from 5-8 p.m. at Eaton & Mackay Funeral Home on 465 Centre Street Newton, MA 02458.
Funeral services will be held on Friday, Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. at St. Ignatius Church, Boston College, 28 Commonwealth Avenue Chestnut Hill, MA 02467.
Memorial donations in lieu of flowers are requested to be directed to the Vamsi Mootha Lab for mitochondrial research at the Massachusetts General Hospital; e send to Deborah Farr, Senior Director of Development at Massachussetts General Hospital Development Office: 100 Cambridge Street Suite 1310 Boston, MA 02114.
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