Daniel Arthur Durgin, Sponsored Obituary
10:10 a.m. PT May 5, 2008
Hm1 (fmf) Daniel Arthur Durgin
Died april 27, 2008.
Daniel Arthur Durgin was killed when a vehicle struck him from behind while stopped at a stop light on his motorcycle in Marysville, CA. He was 33 years old.
Daniel was loved dearly by his parents, Arthur and Elsie Durgin; his sister, Brynda Traylor and her family; and his fiancé and best friend, Sierra Knapp, to whom he was to wed on May 24th, 2008. Daniel met Sierra while working together as nurses at Mule Creek State Prison. They were in the process of planning their wedding and a future together.
Daniel had said he had waited his entire life to find his soul mate; which he had finally found in Sierra. Ten years ago when Sierra was in college she wrote in her journal what she hoped to find someday in a husband. In Daniel, she found all those qualities, and more. Daniel was also respected by his Navy and Marine service men and women with whom he served, his college professors at California State University, Sacrameto, and co-workers at Mule Creek State Prison.
Daniel was a 1993 graduate of Nevada Union High School. Daniel had earned an Associate of Science in Natural Science with Honors, Associate of Science in Biology with Honors, Associate of Art in Liberal Arts with Honors and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and was a Licensed Vocational Nurse. In 2004, Daniel completed a Goethe-Institute German language course in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany. California State University Sacramento will award Daniel a Master of Science Degree in Biological Sciences posthumously at a Commencement ceremony on Friday May 23rd at Arco Arena.
He enlisted in the Navy in June 1994. While on Active Duty he trained at the Naval Hospital Corpsman School, Navy Aeronautical Medical Institute School, Field Medical Service School, and served with the 4th Marine Air Wing, Marine Corps Reserve, Marine Air Group 41, NAS Fort Worth Texas; Marine Air Group 39, Camp Pendleton, CA and Marine Air Group 36, Okinawa, Japan. While on Reserve Duty he was assigned to Surface Cargo Handling Battalion 3, NOSC Sacramento and Naval Hospital Bremerton Det D, NOSC Sacramento.
Daniel was mobilized with Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Okinawa, Japan and the Philippines in 2003-2004. Then he was assigned to the 4th Marines, 1st Battalion, 14th Marines, NOSC Alameda . In 2006 Daniel was mobilized with Noble Eagle and Enduring Freedom, 1st Marine Division in Iraq. Recently he was assigned to the 4th Force RECON Company, NOSC in Alameda and the Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton DET I, NOSC Sacramento, CA.
Viewing will be held on Wednesday May 7th at Hooper and Weaver Mortuary located at 459 Hollow Way, Nevada City, from 10:00am-7:00pm. Services will be on Thursday, May 8th at 11:00, at the Grass Valley Veteran’s Building, 255 South Auburn Street, Grass Valley. Directly after the services at the Veteran’s Building friends and family are invited to the Rough & Ready Cemetery for the remainder of the service. A remembrance and reception will be held at Daniel’s mother’s house following the service, everyone is invited to attend and directions will be provided at the service.
Daniel is survived by: his father, Arthur Durgin; mother, Elsie Durgin; sister, Brynda Traylor; brother-in-law, Dale Traylor; fiancé, Sierra Knapp; future father and mother-in-law Bill and Pegg Knapp; nephew, Daniel “Danny” Traylor; niece Emily May Traylor, step-nieces Amanda Ward and Tachelle Traylor; Aunt and Uncle, Eleanor and Bill Pattison; Uncle and Aunt, Lee “Pete” and Marie Boozel; Aunts, Iris Chrysler, Gracye Sjostrand, Emma Lou Barth and Marian Hayes; Uncles, Fred, Robert, Keith and Richard Durgin; best friends, HN (FMF)Cullen Sedgwick, HM2 (SS) Frank Intelisano, and HM2(FMF) Zosimo O. Gaborni, Jr. and long time friends, Will Caddy and Chad Chaney, and numerous other friends and relatives.
Daniel is preceded in death by his grandparents, John and Bertha Boozel, Fred and Madeline Durgin; his Uncles, Richard Boozel, Robert “Bobby” Boozel, Frank Boozel, Kenneth Durgin, Don Sjostrand, and Ronald “Chuck” Chrysler.
We are proud to say that Daniel was authorized to wear the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (2 awards), Meritorious Unit Commendation, Good Conduct Medal, Naval Reserve Meritorious Service Medal (2 awards), Navy Fleet Marine Force Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal (2 awards), Korean Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (2 awards), Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Service Medal, Expert Rifleman Medal and Expert Pistol Shot Medal. He was qualified as a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman (FMF) and authorized to wear the FMF insignia chest device.
Daniel enjoyed hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as well as traveling to places such as, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Okinawa, Portugal, and Canada. He had hiked to the top of Mount. Fuji. He was a master open water scuba diver. He enjoyed traveling to Napa and San Francisco with Sierra and was preparing to take her to Switzerland and Germany.
Daniel loved spending time with his nephew Danny, they had taken trips to San Francisco and Monterey. They enjoyed rides on Daniel’s Yamaha together and in
2007 they rode in the Sacramento Law Enforcement Memorial Run. Daniel was looking forward to taking Danny on his first overseas vacation in 2009. Daniel also enjoyed cooking, especially preparing gourmet meals for his family and cooking with Sierra’s mother, Pegg.
In lieu of flowers the family requests those wishing to make a memorial donation contribute to: www.woundedwarriorproject.org, Gold County District Boy Scouts of America
(www.gec-bsa.org/districts/goldcountry) or Friends of Nevada County Military (www.fncm.org).
Daniel lived by his life motto: opus, mereo, et aDfero (work, serve & contribute)
