Daniel “Dan” Chango was born in 1980 and died in 2014. The two flags in the upper right corner indicate the cultural heritage of parents: Maria, of Irish descent who died in 2008, and Edward, whose ancestors came from Italy.
Throughout his short life Dan proved to be a skilled athlete, excelling at many sports. The patch in the lower left corner was awarded to him as a member of the travel team of the prestigious Hunter Soccer Club.
Dan attended FSU to study meteorology. As a child, Dan would read books about weather and watch the Weather Channel for impending storms.
In the lower right, Alpine, his white pit bull, or as Dan would refer to him to potential landlords “his Staffordshire Terrier”, was Dan’s faithful companion. Despite the reputation that pit bulls carry, Alpine was a docile animal. No matter where Dan went, Alpine followed and was well cared for until the end.
Dan developed a passion for music and in his spare time created computer generated music, leaving behind more than 30 completed songs and hundreds of percussion tracks.
Finally, the picture of Dan in the center memorializes one of the proudest times of his last years: the PhD graduation of his sister Joanna from UVA. During this graduation weekend our family our family rented a house in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Dan, his girlfriend Emily, his step-brother LJ, sister-in-law Lisa, nephew Gavin, and his father and step mother celebrated the event together. This may have been one of the last times Dan was truly happy.
One of the images that will be forever burned in our memories is of Dan and Gavin walking hand-in-hand in front of us as we approached the graduation stadium.
We miss you terribly, Dan, but realize that you are finally at peace.
God Bless.
Ed Chango