Daniel Mcgill

Daniel P. McGill, 69, died on February 10, 2023 at his home in Fayetteville, with the love of his life, Suzzie, by his side. Daniel was diagnosed with an interstitial lung disease in 2021 and with an aggressive lung cancer in December 2022. He was preceded in death by his parents, Daniel and Margaret McGill (neé Kavanagh); his sister Colleen Philipps, his brothers-in-law Joseph Muscio and Lloyd Kennedy, and his nephew Nicholas Muscio. He is also preceded in death by Suzzie’s parents, John and Shirley Cameron, her brother William Cameron, her nephew Charlie Cameron, and her granddaughter Isabelle Young.

Daniel is survived by his life partner of 17 years, Suzzie Young, of Fayetteville, and her children Jennifer Savage and her partner Beenie, and Brian and Jennifer Young. Dan was welcomed into Suzzie’s extended family and will be deeply missed by John Cameron, Jr. and his wife Renee, Terry Cameron, and Lisa Marshall Gravelle and her husband Michael, as well as nieces Cameron Marshall and Amanda Cameron. Suzzie’s grandchildren Gage, Breylon, Brody, and Mavis called him their Papa Danny.

Bear with us now, as Daniel was part of a big Irish family, so there are lots more names to come!

Daniel was the best brother in the world to his sisters Patricia Muscio of Santa Maria, CA; Bridgid and Bernard MacSeóin of Greensboro, Kerry Kennedy of Laurinburg, and his brother-in-law, Edward Philipps of Parkton. He was a beloved uncle to Lloyd Kennedy Jr., John Kennedy and his partner Darlene, Robert and Maggie Kennedy, Ryan and Erin Kennedy, Nicholas MacSeóin, Shauna and Kevin Haslip, Daniel and Tiffeny Philipps, Michael and Heather Philipps, Joseph Muscio, Inga and Allen Link, and Elizabeth and Josh Silverman.

“Gruncle Bubba” was an amazing great-uncle to Makayla and Elijah Kennedy; Moira, Mairéad, and Morrighan Haslip; Madison, Savannah, Lillian, and Daniel Philipps; Mykenzie Craig and Bradin Philipps; Nicholas and Joseph Muscio; and Evan and Avery Silverman. Daniel is mourned by an even larger extended McGill family across the US and his mother’s Kavanagh clan in England and Ireland. And finally, he will be missed by a wealth of Lakenheath Lancers whose loyal and loving friendships have endured for over 50 years.

Daniel Patrick Gerald Nicholas Gerard—all these fine names and we still called him Bubba!— arrived just after the flood waters receded at Downing Court Nursing Home in Sheringham, Norfolk, England on 27 February 1953. It makes perfect sense that our Bubba breathed his first breath at the beach, although he would eventually drift from the cold North Sea and rocky east coast of England to the warmer sandy beaches of North Carolina.

Dan was born into an Air Force family, but Water was the element that seemed to guide his life. Coastlines called to him, from his birthplace in an English fishing village to southern and northern California, on to the beautiful eastern seaboard states of Maryland, Virginia, and both the Carolinas. The few times Dan ventured away from the sea he always found a river or three nearby to nurture him.

He celebrated his fifth birthday aboard the USS Butner, sailing with his family across the Atlantic from New York to Southampton. Maybe this is when little Danny decided that a sailor’s life would be for him. After graduating from Lakenheath American High School in England in 1971, Dan moved to Hampton, Virginia. The Norfolk shipyards were not far away, but it took a few more years before the hippie in Dan was ready to put on a uniform. He moved to Pittsburgh, then Indiana where he worked at a shipbuilding yard on the Ohio river, and from here Dan placed his hippie life in a footlocker and enlisted in the US Navy in 1978. He attended basic training and “A” school in Illinois at Naval Station Great Lakes, known as “the Quarterdeck of the Navy.”

Seaman Recruit McGill finished training and was assigned to the USS Frank Cable, a submarine tender whose home port was Charleston, South Carolina. After two years aboard the Frank Cable, Dan was transferred to another submarine tender, the USS Canopus. He completed a Mediterranean tour with the Canopus, docking in Rota, Spain and visiting several other ports in the Sixth Fleet. In 1986, Dan left the Navy as a Petty Officer and returned to the nomadic life he had known as an Air Force brat. He moved from Charleston to northern California where he worked as a logistics specialist.

In 1992, Daniel moved to Hope Mills and began working in retail furniture sales. He met Suzzie at work and soon discovered what it meant not just to fall in love, but to stay there forever. Suzzie and her family reunited Dan with his love of the ocean, spending wonderful weeks at Emerald Isle together every year. This was our Bubba’s happy place, where his wandering hippie spirit found its home.

Dan loved music of all kinds; he collected radio stations from across the world to listen to late at night, floating across the seas and the airwaves to connect with other human beings. Yes, he read books, but he also just enjoyed being in their company. And later in life, after losing sight in one eye, he began making photographs, his fingers constantly clicking the shutter release, seeing the world from a totally different perspective. Our Danny Boy, our Bubba, was a kind and gentle soul, content with his life and happy just to be here experiencing it all.

Arrangements are being made through the Navy for a burial at sea.

For Daniel’s family and friends across the globe, please join us wherever you are to send off our special sailorman with a wish for fair winds and following seas. Dig out your old tie-dyed shirts, crank up the jams, and raise a glass with us!

"Let me go gentle into that dark night
Let me not rage against the dying light
There is another light that beckons me
That from this garish light will set me free
It softly glows and grows on that far side
I hear a hymn that sings with me abide

Let me go gentle into that dark night
I will not rage against the close of day
Let me be like a glowing sunset, pray
Sending colours of every rainbow hue
From brightest red up to the deepest blue
Let me learn from the deathbed of the sun
To leave the light and from its brightness run
Let me go gentle at the close of day.

Now, loved ones, let me wish you fond farewell
The time is right; I hear the tolling bell
It’s not a knell it has a happy ring
Like Christmas bells and voices carolling
My heart towards that call is rushing now
I’ve lived my life; please let me take that bow
And let me gently wish you all farewell."

~ Rohini Sunderam, after Dylan Thomas

Donations in Daniel’s name may be made to: The American Lung Association. (please see link below under Donations)