Daniel L. Nevins

Daniel L. Nevins, age 90, of Wayne, passed away peacefully on Wednesday day, June 24, 2020.

Daniel was born in New London, Connecticut. The oldest of three children, his father Leonard Nevins was taken from this life when Dan was just an infant of sixth months of age. After his father’s passing, his mother Josephine did her best to love, nurture, and care for Dan. Then, when he was seven years old, he went to live with his paternal grandparents in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts. There he attended and graduated from Cathedral High School in nearby Springfield with the Class of 1948. The next four years were a time of further education at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts. Then, in 1952, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and proudly served his country as a member of the 69th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Dix, NJ where he served stateside during the Korean War. Two years later, Daniel was honorably discharged as a sergeant and was the recipient of the National Defense Medal. He continued to serve in the Army Reserves for several more years.

In 1954, with the assistance of the G.I. Bill, Daniel returned to school once again – this time to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY where he pursued his love for commercial art and design. Three years later, he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and began his career. His first job was with the American Management Association in New York City. After gaining some experience, he took a job as a commercial artist with the New York Daily News. He remained with the paper for eight years before going out on his own as a freelance artist. One of his more interesting projects was actually a collaboration he participated in with his wife Ann. She had written a series of children’s books and naturally, she felt that no one would be a better choice to illustrate those books than her dear husband Dan. He also did a series of paintings of historical homes in Wayne. As an independent artist, Dan loved his work and was able to provide a good income to support his wife and three children. Because of that love, he continued to serve his clients into his mid-seventies.

As a young boy growing up in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, one of Daniel’s first jobs was serving as a local paper boy. It was a great experience which taught him the virtues of hard work, taking initiative, being responsible, learning the ins-and-outs of management, interacting with his customers, and having a little spending money in his pocket. While all those things were good, the greatest part of the whole newspaper delivering experience turned out to be that it afforded Daniel the opportunity to meet the girl that would one day become his wife. Her name was Ann Cartwright and Ann was the young daughter of one of Dan’s newspaper customers. She was just fourteen years of age when Dan started to notice that she was the prettiest person on his whole route. Her house became his favorite to deliver to and to collect his pay from. Ann apparently took a liking to Dan too. She quickly learned the approximate time he would show up with the paper every day and she made it her business to be there to receive it. Despite their mutual admiration, due to an age disparity, they had to wait a few years for that first date. It turned out to be worth the wait! The first date eventually came and, over the course of time, they went out many, many times. Ann said that Dan loved to watch movies, so the local movie theater made a lot of money off of them. After a five year courtship, marriage came on Saturday, April 18, 1959. They exchanged their wedding promises before God, family and friends at St. Matthews Church in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts. After a honeymoon in Bermuda, they began married life in an apartment in Brooklyn, NY that today would go for a million dollars. In 1968, Dan and Ann moved to Wayne, NJ and have lived in the town ever since.

Aside from his daily work, Dan had plenty of interests to enrich his life. Being artistically gifted, it’s no surprise that he loved to engage in creating beautiful things like oil paintings and sculptures. His home was adorned with his works and who else’s children could boast that their father had sculpted a bust of each of them? No doubt, music such as old-time country, bluegrass, and Irish folk or even a favorite opera was often being played in the background, setting a nice mood while Dan was working in his studio. Dan was also an avid reader and thus, not a day went by without him devouring many of the articles published in the New York Times, New York Post and the local Bergen Record newspaper. Passionate about certain subjects, he was known to somewhat regularly submit letters to the editorial page of the Record. Sometimes they would be published but other times not. Either way, it proved to be a good outlet for Dan to get things off his chest.

Through their travels throughout the U.S.A. and abroad, Dan and Ann were able to create some special memories. Favorite destinations included a Viking cruise throughout Germany, trips to Italy and Ireland, and taking in the grand magnificence out west in the United States. Having spent his boyhood years growing up in Connecticut and Massachusetts, Dan’s allegiance was strictly to the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots. Good times at home included watching a game on television, or sitting in his yard on a warm spring, summer or fall day studying the indigenous birds. When he wanted to be with friends, one of his favorite places to go was to the Wayne YMCA for a good workout and pleasant camaraderie.

When asked for words that described Dan, his wife Ann said he was just such a kind person! He was one who was always thinking about others – a quality which was so evidently demonstrated through his 68 year membership in the Knights of Columbus. He joined when he was just 18 years old while attending Holy Cross College. Most recently he was an emeritus member in the local Wayne K of C chapter 6354. Dan loved the opportunity for philanthropy and service to others that being a Knight offered. Ann said that Dan was a proud American who loved to read about and was a true student of American history. And he was a good Catholic Christian who, for the past 52 years, was a faithful parishioner of Our Lady of the Valley R.C. Church.

Dan’s children truly loved and respected him as the best father anyone could ask for. To them he was a father but he was also like a friend. They will always admire him for his wisdom, his very forgiving nature, and his great sense of humor. They loved how Dan just seemed to have a song for anything that came up and how he had no reservations about breaking out into song, and they would marvel and laugh about how he could talk to anyone – something that in recent years seemed to be his primary focus in going to the YMCA. They loved it that he clearly loved his whole family so very much and how he expressed that love in so many ways.

Dan’s grandchildren also have cherished memories of him and Ann coming to babysit, taking them on hikes, feeding the ducks by their house and on many of their vacations. He loved being around them, enjoying a later-in-life hobby of photographing them, and being the best grandpa he could be.

Daniel was the beloved husband of Ann (nee Cartwright) blessed in marriage for 61 years. He was the loving father of Michael Nevins of Vernon, Kathleen Nevins of Wayne, Thomas Nevins and wife Deborah of Denville, and Bill Nevins of Wayne; cherished grandfather of: Daniel and fiancé Nicole, Erika, Zachary, and Ryan; adoring great-grandfather of Brianna; dear brother of his late sister and late brother: Jeanette Stanton and Robert Martin; and dear uncle of many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memorial Processing, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105-9959, (www.stjude.org), would be appreciated.