Dan was the Man…
Thank y’all for joining us at Dan’s celebration of life.
Please use the comment form below to add your favorite memory of Dan, thoughts and prayers for the family, etc.
Thank you.
(Click on images to enlarge them, use the arrows to navigate forwards and backwards)
Responses…
Dan truly was the man! From the first time I met him in 2004, until we last visited in 2024, he was the epitome of Cool Hand Luke — confident, steadfast, reassuring and wise. We worked together for more than 16 years representing Texas physicians at the state and federal level. I still remember the dinner at Austin Land & Cattle where I pleaded with him to come to Austin to work with me at TMA. He kept on using the comment “When Pigs Fly” as we discussed the pros and cons of leaving Houston and moving north. Ultimately and I am not sure why, he agreed. I am a firm believer that God puts people in our lives to help us and Dan was one of those people for me. Dan made the TMA team better by his presence. Denoting his wry sense of humor, he kept a moniker of a pig flying hanging from the rearview mirror of his Honda Pilot. There was always a detailed analysis coupled with a mischievous and all-encompassing smile that made me feel at ease when we talked. He knew exactly how to talk with and to the doctors. When we talked after hours, he often did so from the garage or back porch of his house with a cigar and whiskey in hand. He was my TMA co-pilot. When I left TMA in 2020, the leadership smartly selected him to lead the team. We visited occasionally during the pandemic and following his retirement and move to Kansas. Our visits were always uplifting even when we were discussing the trials of getting older and the various health challenges we were facing. His love for Becky and his family was evident and he particularly loved talking about what was going on in their lives. I will miss my friend deeply even though I know he is in a better place and free of pain and suffering. For me, he made the world a better place and I am a better man for having known him.
I had the pleasure of working with Dan for more than 20 years. From his time at Harris County Medical Society and TMA he was a colleague, leader, and a good friend. He appreciated a good joke, solid snark, and hard work. You could talk to Dan about work, the joy of home repair projects, and the love of family, he was well versed in all of them. One of my favorite memories with Dan was following a meeting in Washington DC. We had some time to kill after concluding a conference and hill visits and decided to visit the Smithsonian Aerospace Museum. We had an opportunity to talk about the work we had done, aircraft, and life in general. It was a great day to get to really enjoy the company of a truly wonderful person. I will miss you Dan, I am glad to have known you.
I cannot begin to say what a profound impact Dan has had on my life. After becoming a Christian in middle school, Dan was a father figure for me in the church. His home was my home. His kids were my brother and sister. His family was my family, and they shaped me into who I am today. Dan helped me in my early Christian life to be more down to earth and not to get pigeonholed into the expectations of youth Christian culture at the time. Dan, I love you. Thank you for all you taught me. Thank you for sharing your life and your family with me.
We had the privilege of being their neighbors in Austin, Texas from 2007 to 2014. There was never a dull moment with Dan from the moment we met.
He had a way of getting our one hundred pound chocolate Labrador to get super excited by just saying “Dexter” (I can still hear Dan’s voice with the exact intonation when he spoke Dexter’s name) and our puppy, then, would terrorize our yard and house afterwards with the zoomies! Dan was always good about livening everything around him.
We always saw Dan with a smile accompanied with a hearty laugh, even when we had to call him up at his work to come home in mid-morning because their house was surrounded with police officers with guns drawn and the cops wouldn’t let our newborn, her grandmas and me in our house across the street because it might be unsafe.
Of course Dan chuckled at the incident. Oh Dan! You have filled us with great fond memories. Thank you for being a great neighbor and friend. We will miss you!
We had the privilege of being their neighbors in Austin, Texas from 2007 to 2014. There was never a dull moment with Dan from the moment we met.
He had a way of getting our one hundred pound chocolate Labrador to get super excited by just saying “Dexter” (I can still hear Dan’s voice with the exact intonation when he spoke Dexter’s name) and our puppy, then, would terrorize our yard and house afterwards with the zoomies! Dan was always good about livening everything around him.
We always saw Dan with a smile accompanied with a hearty laugh, even when we had to call him up at his work to come home in mid-morning because their house was surrounded with police officers with guns drawn and the cops wouldn’t let our newborn, her grandmas and me in our house across the street because it might be unsafe.
Of course Dan chuckled at the incident. Oh Dan! You have filled us with great fond memories. Thank you for being a great neighbor and friend. We will miss you!
Reading these comments really cements Dan’s very being. I met Dan in August, 1970, Dan’s freshman year at Carolina. I was a sophomore and he was my roommate. We were both to be members of the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corp, and the Admissions Office paired us up for that very reason. I am a lifetime native of NC, and Dan was coming south to college because of a ROTC scholarship. We hit it off immediately, but being members of ROTC was the least of it. *I was dismissed from the program later that year for medical reasons, and Dan eventually resigned … he was of a different calling.
I will not drone on further with (very) old college stories, but wish to say only that Dan may have been the most easily liked guy I ever met. We were only roommates for one semester, but remained close friends the 3 years I remained in school, and all the years since. THIS WORLD NEEDS MORE DAN FINCHES! Thank God, Dan and Becky produced two more Finches and they have begotten even more.
So rest easy Big Dan. You have left us in good hands. “See you on the other side.”
I met Dan & Becky ~15 yrs ago while visiting my son (also a Nate!) & daughter-in-law who lived across the street. One memory I have is whenever we would hear a (loud) motorcycle rev up first thing in the morning, we knew it was Dan’s Saturday.
I remember asking Dan early on how it was that he and Becky met from 2 different areas of the country. Dan, as everyone knows, told a great story, unrushed, with a funny punch line…. and so was this one. I have long since forgotten most of it, but the gist was not so much her intellect and kind nature, but her legs got his attention. 🙂
I also remember being tongue-tied more than once in front of the handsomeness of that guy.
Dan was great, my special friend Becky’s lifelong friend and love. I will miss knowing he walks this earth. He was one of the good guys, one of the best.
My heartfelt condolences to Becky, Liz & Nate, and all the rest of his family and friends.
With love, Carol Nordfelt
I knew and worked with The DUDE since 1992. He was a mentor. He was a master of policy. He was a statesman in times of scarcity of the same.
Above all- he was my friend who I loved much. He was always able to counsel me on home repairs. He always a remark to bring me laughter.
I paid attention to North Carolina basketball merely because I knew it brought him joy. I loved talked sports, playing golf, watching him chew a cigar.
He was a man of immense humility and class. He loved his family so well and set an example in that way.
A home is in my life due to his absence and he will forever be one
of my favorite chapters in life. I’m better having known him.
It’s never easy to meet the “Big Brother”!
When I first started dating Joan, it was fun hearing her talk about her relationship with her Big Brother Dan. It was fun, but it also made for a nerve-racking build up to meeting the Big Brother for the first time. It may have been one of the most nervous moments of my life. This guy’s reaction and opinion of me could impact the rest of my life. Yikes!!!
He played the part well. Looking down at me – I wasn’t ready for the height! But, oh boy … that look of “Oh … you’re the guy that has been dating my little sister?!? Hmmm” … but after he enjoyed playing the part and shaking me up me up a little bit – he was great. That big smile and engaging laugh helped me understand why Joan enjoyed talking about him so much.
Over the years, the miles kept us apart for big blocks of time. But whenever we did get together I enjoyed being around that big smile and engaging laugh.
And over the past 20 years our time together usually focused on getting our families together. Witnessing Nate and Liz along with Mags, Em & Jack having fun together was always a beautiful thing (Holliston, weddings, Vermont, the Beach House, Chicago, Manhattan …) .
Watching our kids grow into adults that all for us admired together created a nice bond for us. And from that grew a warm relationship among Dan, Becky, Joan & I.
As we moved forward through the years and spent more time together, I was able to count myself as one of the lucky ones to fall within his warm embrace of that big smile and engaging laugh. For that I will always be incredibly thankful.
Looking back, it’s obvious why Joan loved her Big Brother. He really was a great guy! … a fun guy, an interesting guy, a caring guy, a big picture guy – who also lived in the moment, a never take yourself too seriously guy. One of the really good ones!
I’ll miss you a lot “Joan’s Big Brother”! 😊
Love you Big Guy!
One of the funniest persons I’ve ever known. Had a warm, beautiful smile that was contagious. Always a twinkle in his eye. He’s always smiling and happy and always so positive – had an intense love for his family. He will be greatly missed. He was loved and respected by so many.
Dearest Becky and Finch Family,
My heart just aches about Dan….I had the pleasure and luck of working with Dan the Man at the TMA! We officed next door to each other. The beauty of working with Dan is he made everything fun! Even those long and arduous legislative sessions. When I left TMA I gave him a chauffeur’s hat. You might think that was a bit weird but it was so perfect! You see, it was because he used to drive Michelle and I around on all the road trips we had to take all over Texas to attend political fundraisers and to visit the county medical societies. We called him “Hoke”from Driving Miss Daisy and he would call us “ the Daisies”. Always the consummate gentleman, he would let us Daisies decide when we would leave, comeback, when and where we would stop to eat, ( often a Sonic stop was part of the trip!)help with our luggage etc… he’d just laugh, both at and with us on those trips and gossip with us too! ….Michelie and I considered him one of the “girls”!😂 I will always remember Dan as the Family Man too.. he loved all of you so much and often regaled us with stories about all of you and especially the grand kids. He was so proud of y’all! I am so lucky and blessed to have known him♥️ He will be missed but so very much remembered.
Patricia Kolodzey (PK)
Dan the Man. What a beautiful union he & Becky had. I often said that if i could design a blue print model of a nearly perfect proto type it would look and act like Dan the Man. What a man, husband,father, sibling, grandfather,neighbor, friend, and confidant this amazing man was. I dare u to spend more than 5 minutes and not come away with a smile. By the way, I smile whenever i eat smoked salmon cause no one grilled smoke Salomon like he did. Dan the Man u will be missed but we will fill in some of the gaps caused by your
departure with memories and foudness. See u later Dan.