Our hearts are shattered. We are saddened to announce the death of our beloved son, brother, husband, and father, Daniel Roark.

Daniel James Roark, a long-time resident of Long Beach, California, born in Hollywood on September 1, 1973, passed away surrounded by immediate family on September 28, 2021 at the age of 48, after a short but courageous battle with cancer.

Daniel had an exhaustive list of passions and interests. He played guitar and loved music overall; not a genre was absent from his favorites’ lists and he was continually seeking out new music and new artists, and often delighted us all with unique discoveries outside anything the rest of us knew was even a genre.

He was interested in space, physics, robotics, “solving the mysteries of the universe.” He was forever coming up with new ideas in this regard, and spent a lot of time “working on his robot army”. He was passionate about art – drawing, clay work, resin art, even building things from his own imagination with Legos. He enjoyed shooting guns, welding anything (often joking if anything broke in the house - including furniture made of wood - that he could weld it for us), tooling around with various gadgets in the garage. He adored fast cars: both driving them – notably, his beloved 370Z - and watching Formula 1 races; he also loved attending the annual Laguna Seca race in Monterey, CA, as well as the annual Long Beach Grand Prix.

Not content to be fascinated merely by space, robotics, art, fast cars, music, playing guitar, and welding, Daniel also came up with ideas for making gemstones, becoming a filmmaker “because no one in Hollywood knows how to make a decent space movie,” with additional dreams of writing a sci-fi book with his wife. He also was interested in learning to fly and becoming a pilot and, even in the weeks before his death, purchased a flight simulator program so he could realize this ambition - Daniel was an ardent fan of flight from his earliest years and this passion persisted throughout his life.

Daniel likewise loved gentle, sweet things – things like Disney movies, watching cute cat videos on YouTube, helping his wife befriend the neighborhood crows and squirrels, and having deep talks with his son about life and girls and the importance of finding a career, even if it’s not one you think you’ll love (because you just might find that you do!) A little-known fact is that he loved birds, and would spend hours each morning watching those who visited his birdfeeder, going so far as to recognize those who returned - and naming them.

He loved his family most of all, and devoted the entirety of his last 24 years to his wife and stepson, making sacrifices for their happiness without a second thought to his own. He adored his parents, sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, and endeavored always to be thoughtful about them.

A Senior Network Engineer by trade, Daniel carved his career out of nothing in his early 30s and quickly became very successful therein. He was most recently employed with City National Bank based in Los Angeles; he was a dedicated and hardworking member of the team, and tremendously valued his role therein. Through his career, raising Nikolas, and his interactions with his friends and family and their children, it became obvious to most who knew him that Daniel had a teacher’s heart. He excitedly brought alive history and science during his son’s school years; he patiently walked colleagues through tough tasks at work. Likewise, he loved teaching friends and family - and random dogwalkers in the neighborhood, or his favorite 7-11 cashier - anything at all about any of his numerous interests.

He truly disliked only a handful of things: NASCAR, people who don’t return their shopping carts, door dings on his Z. Perhaps a few others, but those were the hot buttons that would most often send him angrily pacing while wildly gesticulating.

Daniel inspired love and deep affection in all who knew him. He is survived by his wife, Shannon; his son, Nikolas; his parents, Betty and Dennis; his sister, Marisa Maddens; brother-in-law Victor Maddens; niece Isabella Maddens, and treasured aunts, uncles, cousins, colleagues, and friends who loved him very much. He is predeceased by his beloved grandmother, Evelyn Roark; adored aunt, Gloria Downings; and his Star Trek twin mother-in-law, LaVern Alff.

We will be celebrating Daniel’s life at the Museum of Flying, in tribute to his passion for airplanes and flight, at 3100 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica on Sunday, October 24th, at 1 pm. Please bring your fondest memories of Daniel to share with family and friends. A luncheon will be served. 

Daniel's interment will be held on Monday, October 25th at 1p, at Bellevue Memorial Park, 1240 W G St, Ontario.

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