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This is the hardest Chairman letter I have had to write. Instead of a new year letter looking forward and highlighting the progress and promises to come at our Chamber and our City, I have to try to put into words the tremendous loss to our Chamber family and community by the unexpected passing of Danny Diaz just days before the Christmas holiday.
Danny was for at least the last decade the Chamber’s “every person”. Many people have commented in the short time since news of his death that Danny was their Chamber touchstone, the person that they looked for or looked to see online for Chamber updates and celebrations.
Having joined the Chamber to support our councils and kick-start our social media presence, Danny for many people was the “face” of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce. Whether it was helping steer councils and their chairs, providing words for various speeches (and Danny over the years wrote a lot of speeches) or simply attending with his gregarious smile and ease, Danny helped to shape many of the events we held. And of course, Danny was always quick to post about our events on the various social media platforms he ran for the Chamber.
But even more important, Danny always brought an effervescence and vitality to each meeting, event or gathering he graced. He was always quick to make a connection between diverse individuals who showed up at the Chamber or help someone with a deprecating smile and his easy manner, and often it seemed so effortless. But those of us who were his friends as well as his Chamber connections knew how much behind the scenes work Danny put into everything he did.
Although I worked with Danny on several projects and more closely when I became Chair, I really got to know him better when I joined him this past summer at the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives Annual Meeting in Indianapolis for a few days. While there, I was able to see first-hand what Danny did best, not only making connections but identifying programs and opportunities to bring back to Miami Beach to enhance our community. Over a few shared meals, I got to share Danny’s excitement at some of the conference sessions he attended. When I did, I glimpsed the possibility that one day not too far off in the distance, Danny would be the President of a chamber of commerce, making an even greater impact on some community (or maybe our own).
I am not alone in seeing all the good that Danny had inside him or that he spread around to others. Ceci Velasco fondly recalls Danny as her self-proclaimed “work son”, because he was the best hire she ever made which Danny apparently loved each time she said it. Ceci reminisced about losing her confidante that: “His gentle loyalty to friends was legendary and he lived life to the fullest” finding a home, family and even a calling at the Chamber and becoming more civically involved representing the gay community. Past chairs Michael Goldberg and Robin Jacobs shared that Danny was “the heart and soul of the Chamber” because “his positive, can-do attitude was contagious when he was around you” and he always “treated all with respect and kindness” having always shared his contagious laugh and positivity whatever the task at hand or the request being made. Richard Segal, incoming Chair Elect, as well as Seth Feuer both shared just how much a shinning light Danny was, always contributing behind the scenes and in the significant way only an integral part of the Chamber community could be, and how unfortunate his passing is just when Danny was poised to build upon his decade of success at the Chamber and in our community. Everyone whom I spoke to said almost the same things about Danny as Jerry Libbin shared: “I believe that one of Danny’s finest attributes was his willingness to assist anyone who asked for his help and I never heard him say no to anyone. Danny was a true professional, a true friend and loved by all who were fortunate enough to know him.”
I mourn for all of the current promise that Danny’s passing leaves unfulfilled and all the future promise that many of us saw in him. Instead, along with Danny’s family, we are all left to try to find our way to accepting the awful realization that he has passed, way to young and with so many questions left unanswered. Thankfully Danny lived a life that was vibrant and expressive enabling us to continue to feel his presence as we move forward and reflect upon the pictures and postings he left along the way. As both Robin Jacobs and Richard Segal challenged: it is now the task of Danny’s friends to see that we live our lives forward with his example of kindness and respect so that his light will continue to shine on us, our Chamber family, his family and this community that Danny loved so much.
