Daniel De Jesus

Daniel De Jesús passed peacefully early Sunday morning, June 22 at 85 years old.Daniel was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico on February 16, 1940, to the late Leopoldo and Celica De Jesús. He has 3 sisters, Idalis, Milca, and Wanda who preceded him in death in 2015.At a young age, Daniel and his family moved from Puerto Rico to Brooklyn, New York in 1949 where he grew up. Daniel served as an Army medic during the Vietnam War and became a NY firefighter not long after his honorable discharge in 1969. Daniel married Luz Virginia Rios on June 30, 1970, in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. They would have celebrated 55 years. Luz gave birth to Daniel's first-born child, their only daughter Denise, in 1972, then came two more sons Daniel Jr. and Rolando. The oldest sibling, Melvin, was not Daniel's biological son but he always treated him as his own. In May 1974, Daniel had a life changing accident at the fire department which forced him to retire. In 1977, Daniel and Luz left New York and moved their young family to Winter Haven, Florida where he spent most of his life and raised his family.Daniel loved to learn and earned several degrees and certifications including a bachelor's in education. He was an avid bible scholar with a ministry degree from Southeastern University who loved to share the word of God with anyone who would listen. He loved to joke around and tell stories of his firefighter days. Daniel was also an outstanding musician and dabbled in all sorts of instruments, but his main love was the trumpet. He served the Lord in many ways including preaching, teaching Sunday school, playing his trumpet in several different church bands, and street, prison, and bus ministries, just to name a few.Daniel was a devoted, loving and caring husband, a wonderful father to 4 children and loving grandfather to 5 grandsons Dylan, Robbie, Jordan, Daniel and Zachary. He had a deep love for all of his cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws, friends and church family.