David Holt Daniel

Emerald Isle and New Bern, NC - David Holt Daniel, 76, passed away at his home on Saturday, June 13, 2026. He was born September 6, 1949, in Martinsville, VA, a son to the late David Ray and Mary Rauhut Daniel.

David was graduated from NC State with a degree in Applied Mathematics, and he was graduated from the University Dayton with an MS in Operations Research. David served his country in the US Air Force (active duty) for several years and then transitioned to a civil service job at Wright Patterson AFB, OH, working on the F-16 simulator. He transferred to Washington DC area with his wife’s job change in the early 1980s. In DC he worked for the Air Force and Navy as an engineer/program manager for the Tomahawk Cruise Missile Joint Program Office. He retired from the Navy in 1997 and worked for Northrop Grumman in Virginia, retiring from NG in 2011.

He enjoyed watching cooking shows on TV, though he/they didn’t cook much; he enjoyed watching Dancing with the Stars and dancing movies, though he did not dance, but he did judge the dancers as Len Goodman did; he was the interior designer for all the houses he and Pat owned over the years; after retirement, he enjoyed water aerobics in both Strasburg, VA and Emerald Isle, NC. Pat led the water aerobics class in Emerald Isle, and he prepared five different playlists for the class. With Pat, he traveled to China, took three river cruises in Europe, one cruise on the U. S. Great Lakes and a cruise from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale.

He was a witty, generous and loving husband, father, and grandfather.

He is survived by his wife, Patricia Kelley of the home; daughters, Jennifer Anderson of Rosharon, TX and Susan Curtis of Livingston, MT; grandchildren, Emily Anderson, Janey Anderson, Anna Curtis, and Ben Curtis; a sister, Donna, and brother-in-law, Bill Sullivan, of Winston-Salem, NC; a niece Georgia, and her husband, Jimmy Haggerty of Birmingham, AL; and a cousin, Laura Daniel of Leicester, NC.