Daniel Thomas McCormick

When Dan was small, there were a few truly vicious dogs in our neighborhood. If they were loose and snarling in the streets, we would send Dan out to meet them. While those dogs were clearly prepared to eat anyone, they turned from snarling beasts to sweet puppies for Dan. Not only did those dogs and other animals realize they didn’t need to put on a show for Dan, people who knew him, forever or just for a day, could see that too. 

Dan listened and attended to you with his whole being. A conversation with Dan made you feel seen and heard and loved. He was soft spoken, overwhelmingly sincere, and kind in every fiber of his being. When the conversation was over, he didn’t forget - he followed up, he checked in frequently, and he went miles out of his way to support you. 

Dan imparted great kindness on this world, to his immediate circle and more importantly, because it is so rare, to those just passing through his life. This is what we miss the most. In addition to his rare kindness, Dan possessed a rare ability to be amazingly present. These are lessons that Dan taught us: be kind and be present, today and tomorrow.

Dan was also brilliant. He was the first in his family to receive a PhD - he went to Duke, Cornell, and Berkeley. He could read and write those scientific papers that make most people wonder if they were even written in English. 

Dan was an entrepreneur who started and ran a business with his best friend, Micheal Rattner. Dan invented and built microscopic devices (far too technical for these authors to even attempt to describe). His medical inventions were tested and used at the best hospitals in the country. His work undoubtedly saved lives and will continue to do so. 

Dan found daily joy in his lab’s clean room, at the beach, kite sailing, at good coffee shops, and out for rides up and down the coast. More recently, he found joy in ice cream, outings to the mountains, those three crazy brits, and as ever, time with his family and friends.

We often thought Dan worked too hard and prioritized other people’s needs too often. In retrospect, he lived like he might have known he would live too short a life. He was determined to never compromise what was most important to him and to live life unabashedly on his terms. This is yet another invaluable lesson Dan has taught us that we should all carry forward.

Dan is survived by his loving parents, James and Virginia McCormick, his siblings Brian McCormick, Dennis McCormick, and Rachel McCormick-Kaufman; his nieces Allison McCormick and Josie Kaufman; his nephews James McCormick and Julian Kaufman; his sister-in law Jill McCormick; his brother-in law Will Kaufman; and many beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who were like family to him.

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling. From glen to glen, and down the mountain side. The summer's gone, and all the roses falling, It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for donations to the Daniel T. McCormick Memorial Fund to honor Dan’s and his family’s fierce battle against an unrelenting autoimmune disease: https://charitysmith.org/daniel-t-mccormick/