As we remember our wonderful nephew, Dan, we think about his joy of adventure and his deep love for Nagisa.  Both of them were always eager to spend time with Dan's youngest cousins when they visited, and listening to them enthralled the youngest generation of the family.  

With our never-ending condolences and love to Nagisa, Melissa and Alan.

Sandy and Joe 

Speech - Alan Scheidegger

Dan was born in Northern Virginia in a suburb outside of Washington, D.C. on March 23, 1981. It was no secret I wanted a boy - I even jokingly told Melissa's obstetrician I would pay the bill only if the baby was a boy. I loved playing baseball as a youth. I started coaching my younger brother Nick's Little League team as a 17-year-old and eventually led a Vienna team to the Virginia State Little League championship in1979. I initially had dreams of Dan becoming a major league ball player. I coached him in T ball and two seasons of Little League, but Danny was strong willed and soon let me know that was not his path in life.

Melissa reminded me recently that Danny's first word was "good". It somehow seems fitting. Dan was a good person- a kind person. He saw the good in people and the good in life. I remember telling Lissy when Danny was in high school that his life seemed easy. He was attractive and really smart. Dan did well in school without much effort and was in the gifted program. He was personable and made friends easily.

Dan had an affinity for mathematics and majored in the subject at George Mason University. I wondered what career he would find with that major. Would he be a teacher like his mother or an actuary?  Again, things seemed to come easily to Dan, and after college he got his first job in the gaming industry- working on the Yu-Gi-Oh card game for Upper Deck in San Diego.

I guess Melissa and I should have foreseen his move to California and its milder temperatures. The weather in Northern Virginia can drop to below freezing during the day in late autumn and winter. Even as a child, Dan disliked wearing coats.

In fact, I heard a story that during high school there was a fire drill in the winter and the students had to stand out on the football field for a period of time. Of course, Danny had gone to school without wearing his coat. His childhood friend, James (Scooter) took off the inside lining of his coat so that Dan wouldn't freeze.

Dan's path in the gaming industry took him from San Diego to San Francisco, where he worked for a start-up called Booyah before moving on to Storm 8. In San Francisco he met the love of his life, Nagisa, when they were both members of the Bay Area Flash Mob. They got married and later moved together to Los Angeles, where Dan worked for Scopely and then Riot Games. We were so proud of his loving marriage and his career and financial success.

The last 6 months of Danny's life were far from easy, however.  He kept his battle with kidney cancer mostly private, but he endured pain, immunotherapy, cancer pills and the accompanying nausea and weakness, and several surgeries bravely and without complaint. Dan loved his life and fought so hard to live. Up until the end, Danny stayed positive and hopeful that he could defeat this terrible foe.

I want to thank everyone here and each and every one of you who have posted pictures, shared a heart or memory on his memorial website, who sent cards, flowers or made a donation in his memory to cancer research.

I want to thank Kat, Nallely and Jason for their help with the Celebration of Life in Los Angeles and their kindness to Nagisa and Melissa and me in our time of sorrow.

Thank you to Carol and Lani for helping Nagisa with the Celebration of Life in San Francisco.

I also want to thank Luis and his girlfriend, Victoria, for your many thoughtful acts during Dan's illness. Luis is Danny's cousin. On Dan's final trip to the hospital, he was so thin and weak and unable to walk, so Luis carried him.

Dan was an amazing son, husband, nephew, cousin, colleague, and friend. He had every gift- looks, intelligence, personality, a happy marriage, career success. He had every gift, but the gift of time.

Dan’s time on Earth was only 42 years. But in the long run, what matters most is how rich his life was…in dreams fulfilled, in friendships, in loving and being loved…for how many people carry him around in their hearts after he is gone. And Dan, your list is long. We will carry you in our memories forever.