Obituary of L. Daniel Dannenbaum

L. Daniel Dannenbaum, a philanthropist and World War II hero, died of congestive heart failure on August 30, 2015 in Belfast, Maine. He was 94 years old. Mr. Dannenbaum was born in Philadelphia where his family owned the Pine Tree Silk Mills. He was educated at Phillips Andover Academy, Germantown Academy, and Yale University where he was graduated cum laude and was captain of the swim team. He never lost a backstroke race in his college career and was AAU and NCAA champion in 1942 and 1943. During World War II he served as Second Lieutenant in the Navy aboard the USS Henry R. Mallory. When the ship was torpedoed in the North Atlantic 600 miles from Iceland, he saved hundreds by opening hatches as the ship was sinking, freeing trapped marines. He survived the icy waters by clinging onto a small wooden pallet for eight hours in the dark, before being rescued by the USS Bibb. After the War, he returned to Philadelphia and became an entrepreneur who owned several businesses including the Aardvark Theater in Philadelphia. From 1967 to 1971, he was the Business Manager for the Philadelphia School District, a member of the so called “Ivy Mafia” team led by the reformist school board president, former Philadelphia Mayor Richardson Dilworth. In 1957, he married Marilyn Costello who was the first chair harpist for the Philadelphia Orchestra for 53 years and taught at The Curtis Institute of Music. Mr. Dannenbaum traveled the world with the Orchestra. When Miss Costello passed away in 1997, he continued to be a patron of Curtis where he has endowed two harp fellowships in his and his late wife's names. He combined his love of sailing and history by arranging sailing trips around the Aegean Sea, and he developed an extensive ancient Greek coin collection, half of which he donated to Yale University and half of which he donated to the University of Pennsylvania Museum where it is on permanent display. In 2008 he married Katherine Hall with whom he continued to nurture his lifelong passion for music, art, theatre, literature, film, and travel. He spent his summers in Stockton Springs, Maine, on Penobscot Bay. Mr. Dannenbaum had four children, Chendi Dannenbaum (Nemaiah Valley, British Columbia), Marianne Keirstead (deceased), Alison Lang (Winlaw, British Columbia), and Daniel G. Dannenbaum (Arlington, Virginia). He leaves five grandchildren, and four great grandchildren. Celebrations of his life will be held in Philadelphia and Stockton Springs, Maine at a later date.