Daniel John King

life story

A loving father, devoted son and wonderful friend

“No one is big enough to be independent of others.”

Dr. W.W. Mayo

King of the Hill

Dan grew up as the baby in a family of six in Rochester, MN. His dad Herman worked at IBM and his mom Clarice was the keeper of the home. He started working as a paper boy in his early teens through high school and worked many other jobs while he went to college at St. Cloud State where he earned a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, in Political Science with a minor in Urban Planning. Soon after, he became the Community Development Director in Kasson, MN for 5 years and then was employed in the same position in Zumbrota, MN for 12 years. He loved being a "humble civil servant" and in a position to make positive change for the community and the people who lived there.

In Zumbrota he was a crucial member of the Covered Bridge Festival Committee - planning and executing the yearly celebration.

He did all this while bringing up two rambunctious boys, Marcus Kevin and Kieran Daniel. He had married Santina Lovelace in 1996 and they divorced in 2008. He also always had time for his nephew Steve who was very close to him. He loved playing catch or fooling around on the trampoline or taking road trips with the boys and whichever dog or dogs were in the family at the time.

But at heart he was a homebody. One of his favorite things was to sit outside and gaze at the view to the south across fields of corn and soybeans. He loved it when he could offer the "lower one" pasture to friends and their horses or mules or sheep. Besides the dogs and cats he enjoyed raising chickens and ducks whenever he could.

For the last 10 years he has been a partner and friend to Joan Sand. Together, they worked inside and outside to make their farmhouse an even lovelier home. They loved to sing and dance together and have friendly debates around just about everything. She will miss him with all her heart.

Besides Joan and his sons Marcus and Kieran, he is survived by his dear mother Clarice, two brothers, Bradley and David King and a sister, Julie Janak and her husband Roger as well as many nieces and nephews and their children. He was preceded in death by his father Herman, his two brothers Kevin and Mark and his niece Katie.

A celebration of his life will be held at a future date.

memorial service

Memorial Get Together

July 18, 2021

Covered Bridge Park 175 West Ave, Zumbrota, MN 55992, USA

Informal gathering to celebrate Dan from 1pm to 3pm in the park pavilion.