C.B. Daniel, city leader and UF grad, dies at 69
C.B. Daniel sits on the roof of the Florida National Bank of Gainesville in November 1984 when he was the bank president. Daniel died Wednesday. He was 69.
The Gainesville SunPublished: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 11:48 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 24, 2008 at 11:48 p.m.
Gainesville lost a longtime community leader Wednesday with the death of Charlton B. Daniel, known to one and all as C.B.
Daniel's son Brad said his father died at Haven Hospice of complications from cancer. He was 69.
Gainesville attorney and friend Jim Quincey said Wednesday that Daniel's legacy to the people of Gainesville would be hard to sum up in a few words.
"There is hardly anything you can name that C.B. hasn't touched in this community," Quincey said.
In his career, Daniel was executive vice president of First Federal Savings and Loan of Mid-Florida, president of Florida National Bank of Gainesville and First Union National Bank of North Central Florida, and he was most recently affiliated with Alarion Bank.
He was appointed to a six-year term on the Florida Board of Regents, then the governing body for the state university system, by then-Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1995.
That was well before Bernie Machen's tenure as University of Florida president, but Machen e-mailed his condolences on hearing of Daniel's death.
"C.B. Daniel was a great friend and supporter of the Gators," Machen wrote. "His seats in the O'Connell Center were right next to mine, and we shared many good times. He will be missed but not forgotten."
Daniel was noted for his work on job creation and airport growth. His economic development efforts included serving as president of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce and serving as founding director of the Council for Economic Outreach.
Daniel's civic involvement included volunteer work with the Boys and Girls Clubs, the United Way, the Heart Association, the March of Dimes and the Gainesville Rotary Club, among much else.
Daniel attended high school in Ocala and graduated from UF in 1969 with a degree in journalism.
Among the many jobs he took to help put himself through college was a stint as what he called "a quote-getter" for The Sun sports department.
"As a student, my one claim to fame was when I managed to get a quote from Steve Spurrier after he had kicked a winning field goal,'' Daniel later recalled.
Daniel took other courses that interested him, such as marketing and management, and they pointed him in the direction in which he would later make his mark. That was as a banker.
When he won The Sun's Community Service Award in 1988, he said to be successful, a banker "had better have an interest in the community — all parts of the community."
His interest in the community never flagged, friends and family attest. He was slowed by heart problems in 1995 and needed medical clearance to continue serving on the Board of Regents.
He would spend nearly 100 days in the transplant unit of Shands UF, waiting for a donor heart. He had a successful transplant in 1996.
More recently, he reached a settlement with Shands after a cancerous mass in his lung was misdiagnosed following a routine chest X-ray. The cancer spread and Daniel eventually entered hospice care.
Quincey said that Daniel should be remembered for many things, but not the least for his courageous commitment to life.
"He never stopped working to support his family and to better this community," he said.
Daniel is survived by his wife Carolyn, son Brad and twin daughters Brittany and Cynthia, among other family members.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete, Brad Daniel said, but a service will be held next Wednesday at a location to be determined.
Diane Chun can be reached at 374-5041 or by e-mail at chund@gvillesun.com.
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