Embedded Files
Daniel James Perry
Daniel James Perry
August 28, 2000 – February 14, 2024
August 28, 2000 – February 14, 2024
Daniel James Perry, 23, of Southwest Ranches, Florida, passed away on February 14, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia.
Daniel was born at Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines, FL to Patricia & Christopher Perry on August 28, 2000. He was a senior at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia majoring in Computer Engineering. He was on the Varsity Crew Team at Georgia Tech and loved rowing and his teammates. He most recently won the “Winter Points Competition” for the varsity men’s team and was deemed by his coach the most improved rower earning him a place in the #1 eight-man boat. Daniel played guitar, keyboard and the French horn and enjoyed all types of music. He started his college career at Florida Atlantic University where he achieved the President’s Honor List for a perfect grade point average of 4.0 in academics for five straight semesters.
Daniel is preceded in death by his Grandfather Robert James Perry.
Daniel is survived by his parents Patricia & Christopher, his brothers Blake & Craig, his Grandmother Miriam Northland and his many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
The family of Daniel wishes to extend our sincere and heartfelt thanks to all our family and friends for your understanding, support, love, and prayers.
The family is asking in lieu of flowers, contributions may be in the memory of Daniel James Perry to Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital Foundation. You may use this link below:
"One of my first memories of Daniel was him asking me a technique question when we were both new to rowing. I’d been doing it for about a year and he had just finished rowing on the water for the first time. At first I thought he was just like any other new member. Later I saw how ridiculously fast he was on the machines and thought he might have been a varsity member messing with me and just pretending to be a new guy. It wasn’t just about being good, people who are brand new to this sport don’t normally have the determination or passion for it until their first race, but he seemed to love it. I remember how passionate he was about winning, always wanting to get into the better spots and medal better. After the Secret City headrace he told me he was embarrassed he got 3rd place, which was crazy to me because that race alone gave him more medals than I did. I wanted to win badly too, and I understood his goal, so I made it my goal to try and catch up to him. Competing outside of the team is hard, but if you compete against others in the team I thought it would help improve us all.
While we both wanted to win badly, I think what separated us was that I warmed up to the idea of being a team while Daniel has always felt like a team player. At what would have been his first race if he wasn’t injured, Clemson sprints, Daniel and I were sitting on the bleachers waiting for the Georgia Tech boats to begin their events. We were talking, and he was helping me finish organic chemistry homework by holding up a page for me to copy in the extremely windy venue. Suddenly he started shouting 'Let's go Tech' and I looked up to see one of our boats coming down. I didn’t cheer with him, partially because I wasn’t much of a team player then and partially because I didn’t think they would hear me. And when the rowers who were in that boat came up and told us they couldn’t hear us but they heard general cheering, I felt like I had been affirmed and that there wouldn’t be any point in cheering. Daniel, being certainly more of a team player than I was, took this as a sign to be louder when the next boat came down.
His camaraderie wasn’t restricted to a race venue. One of the things I remember most clearly about him was the jokes he made. I’ve seen him frustrated and disappointed but I don’t think he was ever sad around us, and few if anyone else had the ability to actually be happy at early morning practice. I think we all remember different jokes as being the funniest but the one I remember most is him making a joke about being big boned while wearing his skeleton uni and the entire varsity men’s squad delaying practice a few minutes because we were laughing so hard. I also remember how even this semester when I was having a hard day at practice or felt like I was about to burst he’d ask me if I was okay. I can’t remember how many car rides we had where I was just ranting about some minor inconvenience from the back seat and he was just able to lend a shoulder and listen to whatever it was.
I think almost everyone goes through a phase where rowing wears down on them and they just need a break. When Daniel took a break some time back, I wasn’t sure if he would come back. Rowing is an intense sport both physically and mentally, and a lot of people walk away from this sport. I can’t blame them for that, as everyone who joined the same semester as me also walked away. When he rejoined I thought I would have a chance of catching up to him again, but after seeing his performance I was reminded of how good he just was naturally.
If there was one thing I wish I could tell him, it would be how much we cared about him. We never really stop and talk about it, and it’s easy to forget. As I remember him not through big gestures but through small actions, I hope he remembered us that way as well. I believe from the start he was a guy who cares about others on the team and everyone on it. And seeing everyone gathering yesterday to remember him, clearly everyone cared about him just as much and shares the pain of his loss.”
-Note from a teammate
Report abuse