Verona Daniels Danieley, 87, a fixture of the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ community for decades as wife of president emeritus Dr. James Earl Danieley, died June 24 at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, N.C., following a brief illness.
A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m., Monday, June 27, at the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Community Church, with burial immediately following at Magnolia Cemetery in ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Lowe Funeral Home, 2205 South Church St., Burlington, N.C.
“Verona Danieley’s contribution to the life of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ College and ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ was immeasurably important,” said ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ President Leo M. Lambert. “She was a fine goodwill ambassador for ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, a constant and steady source of encouragement and support for Laurie and me personally, and was generous and gracious to generations of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students, faculty, staff and alumni. She will be deeply missed and always remembered as a treasured part of our university history.”
Born Verona Annie Daniels on January 17, 1924, to H. Burton and Tennie Lupton Daniels in Beaufort, N.C., she enrolled at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ in 1940 after graduating as valedictorian of Beaufort High School. Her achievement as valedictorian led ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ to provide her with a partial scholarship to help pay tuition and expenses. Within a year, Danieley would complete a secretarial course and was hired as secretary to then-ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ College President Leon Smith. It was in this role that she caught the attention of her husband-to-be, a member of the college faculty following his own graduation from ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ in 1946.
By the time Verona Daniels and J. Earl Danieley married in 1948, she had reenrolled at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ to earn a bachelor’s degree. She graduated from the college in 1949 and taught for a year at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ College High School before moving to Chapel Hill, N.C., for Earl Danieley to pursue his doctorate in chemistry. In Chapel Hill, Verona Danieley accepted a position as secretary to UNC’s business manager of athletics.
The Danieleys returned to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ in 1953 when Earl Danieley was named acting dean of the college. She assumed the role of First Lady in 1957 after the board of trustees elected her husband ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s sixth president. As First Lady, she presided over the president’s house for 16 years, while raising three children and representing both her husband and the university in numerous social and community functions.
ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ’s Vice President Emerita Jo Watts Williams, who has worked closely with the Danieleys for decades, said Verona set the standard for the role of a First Lady during her era. “She promoted the mission of the college through her work in the church and the community,” Williams said. “She was always a warm, welcoming and gracious ambassador for ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, and was always at Earl’s side in every endeavor.”
Verona Danieley served in various leadership capacities at the ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ Community Church, in the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ and with Church Women United. She has been recognized for her work with the PTA’s of local schools and worked on the Zoning Board and Bicentennial Commission of the Town of ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ. She also served as a trustee of the North Carolina Schools for the Deaf.
In 1972, she and her husband established the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching, the university’s highest teaching honor, in memory of their parents. Earl Danieley established the Verona Daniels Danieley Scholarship Fund in 1984 to be awarded on the basis of character, need and demonstrated academic potential. In 2004, university trustees unanimously approved the naming of Lake Verona on East Campus to recognize Verona Danieley’s many contributions to her alma mater and the community.
“Whenever I have the opportunity, I always say what a difference ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ has made in my life,” Verona Danieley once wrote of the university’s importance to her family. “ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ has been good to us, and we hope we have been good for ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ.”
She is survived by her husband, president emeritus James Earl Danieley; her children, Ned Danieley (Linda), of Hillsborough, N.C., Mark Danieley (Heidi), of Burlington, N.C., and Jane Shutt (Mark), of Pineville, N.C.; and seven grandchildren – Jonathan, Daniel and Michael Shutt, Robert and Sara Danieley, and Sean and Jason Pifer.
Sympathy cards to the Danieley family can be mailed to ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, c/o Office of the President, 2185 Campus Box, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, NC 27244.
Memorial contributions should be made to either the Verona Daniels Danieley Scholarship Fund or the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching at ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, c/o University Advancement, 2600 Campus Box, ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ, NC 27244.