Blacksburg administrator dies suddenly

"We lost a fire chief and administrator, but we lost a good friend and that's the most important part. If I never serve another day, I can't take anything for the opportunity I've had to work with good people like Danny Mac, and he's at the top of the list." - David Hogue Blacksburg mayor

Blacksburg Fire Chief and Town Administrator Danny McDaniel is pictured here with his 5-year-old son, D.J., following a Jan. 4 banquet to honor the town's employees and firefighters. McDaniel died suddenly early Saturday at his home. A fireman's funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Blacksburg Administrator and Fire Chief Danny McDaniel died unexpectedly just after midnight Saturday.

An autopsy revealed McDaniel died of cardiac arrhythmia as a result of an enlarged heart, said Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler.

McDaniel had celebrated his 51st birthday Friday.

"I've been around a lot of people, and I've lived a lot of places, but I don't know anyone with a bigger heart," Councilman Steve Wilson said of the man known affectionately as "Danny Mac." "It was cruelly ironic that they said his heart was twice its (normal) size."

Wilson took the time to honor the man he referred to as "Blacksburg's most valued citizen" Tuesday during the regular town council meeting. After thanking McDaniel for his service to the town, council and those in attendance gave McDaniel a standing ovation.

"He truly deserves the appreciation and admiration of the town and council needed to recognize him for that," Wilson said. "Personally and professional he's been incredible.... I just want to say Blacksburg has a huge void to fill. As far as being a leader, he was fire chief for 18 years and city administrator. Danny touched everything that happened in Blacksburg and he touched it with a velvet hand. He put everybody else's needs before his. He lived about as much of a Christian life as you could, caring for others. He sure was an example to follow, someone you can emulate."

Mayor David Hogue recalled when he and McDaniel played in a softball league in the mid- to late- 1970s. And he remembered when McDaniel was hired as the town's maintenance director 12 years ago.

"I remember how fortunate we were to get somebody with his work qualifications," Hogue said. "He was going to take the job for less money. He said this is my hometown and he made (the pay cut) sound good."

Hogue said after Trudy Martin announced her retirement in the summer of 2005, he felt a peaceful feeling come over him when McDaniel expressed interest in the job.

"He really learned his job well. The town has been so fortunate, not only the administration," Hogue said. "His forte´ was down there at the maintenance shop with the men. You were just as likely to see him on a work site with his shoes dirty and his pants dirty as you were to see him sitting in the office. He was probably more uncomfortable in the office. He always represented the town well. I don't think you can replace somebody like Danny McDaniel. I haven't found anybody who loved Blacksburg more than Danny McDaniel."

Hogue was emotional and described himself as devastated at the loss.

"We lost a fire chief and administrator, but we lost a good friend and that's the most important part," he said. "If I never serve another day, I can't take anything for the opportunity I've had to work with good people like Danny Mac, and he's at the top of the list."

McDaniel spent part of his last day alive doing something he loved - carp fishing. He and Blacksburg Assistant Chief Clay Greer, who also works in the town's maintenance department, used to go fishing about twice a week, but hadn't gone since the summer. They decided to go Friday. They met at the carp lake behind Kelly's Steakhouse and fished until 5 p.m.

They may not have caught any fish, but they fellowshipped and talked about life. McDaniel told Greer it was one of the best times he's had in a long time.

"He was my boss, my fire chief, my best friend, he was just like my other daddy," Greer said. "I've known him all my life.

"I'll never fill his shoes, but I will step up and do what I need to do. Fires still have to be put out. Water lines still have to be fixed. Gas has got to go and sewer plants have to be run," Greer continued. "I'm thankful - I mean I hate it happened - but I'm thankful I got to spend his last full day with him."

Cherokee Falls Kings Creeks Cashions Volunteer Fire Department (CKC) Chief Kenneth "Stick" Manning said McDaniel has been a tremendous help to their department.

"It is a big shock, he was as much a chief to us as was Lawrence Ham (former CKC chief, who died five years ago)," he said. "Him and Lawrence got the relationship going."

The CKC department and Blacksburg work so well together that Manning said it's as if it's one big department.

"When one department needs something, we always rely on each other," he said.

Blacksburg Police Chief Jamie Ham said he has known McDaniel since McDaniel was the coach of his Little League baseball team. Years later they became friends when Ham joined the CKC Fire Department and McDaniel was a member of the Blacksburg department. Now, he considers him a brother.

"I'm lost," Ham said. "It was like the love of a brother. Danny never was like a boss or a superior, he was a friend to everybody. This has been really, really tough. It was so unexpected. Danny has always been in everything that goes on in our town. I know we got to go on, but I really don't know how."

McDaniel was known as someone who would help whenever possible.

"I've shed several tears, and there will be several more before we bury him," said Councilman Mike Patterson, who described their relationship as like father and son. "I am in shock, I'm heartbroken.... No matter how far we reach out to find another administrator, there's no way we'll find another one like we had. I know there's other good people out there who could do the job, but there was only one Danny McDaniel."

McDaniel had laid down with his son at approximately 9 p.m. and fallen asleep, Fowler said. His son woke up around midnight and began calling for his father. McDaniel's wife, Susan, who was asleep in another room, heard the boy calling for his father and got up and found McDaniel unresponsive. Fowler pronounced him dead at 1:10 a.m.

A fireman's funeral will be conducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday, per McDaniel's wishes, Greer said.

Town offices will be closed Tuesday.