Family and friends of former Elon First Lady Verona Daniels Danieley ’49 celebrated her life Monday afternoon as hundreds of mourners filled Elon Community Church for a memorial service that honored a woman who “set the gold standard as a builder of community.”
Danieley, wife of president emeritus J. Earl Danieley, died June 24 following a brief illness. On June 27, her husband, children, grandchildren and siblings listened to Bible verses and personal reflections offered by church and university leaders, including current Elon President Leo M. Lambert.
“I have no doubt that Verona has joined the heavenly saints,” Lambert said. “I will miss Verona, but her spirit lives within each of us. … I will remember her as a keeper of community. The community of Elon University, of this church, and this town.”
The church celebration was marked by moments of levity, too. The Rev. John Truitt Jr. ‘53, a family friend of the Danieleys, introduced himself to the nearly 250 mourners and explained he was standing before them because of a personal request from Earl Danieley. “If Earl Danieley asks you to do something,” he said, “you do it!”
Truitt recounted many memorable moments in Verona Danieley’s life, especially those that involved her role as a mother and as a gracious host to college visitors. He also emphasized her contributions to the university that will remain for ages.
“The Verona Danieley scholarship, and the Daniels-Danieley Award for Excellence in Teaching at Elon University, will benefit young people (and the university) for years,” Truitt said. “Through this legacy she has left us, Verona has continued to live.”
Born Verona Annie Daniels to H. Burton and Tennie Lupton Daniels in Beaufort, N.C., she enrolled at Elon in 1940 after graduating as valedictorian of Beaufort High School. Her achievement as valedictorian led Elon 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-Elon 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 Elon in 1946.
By the time Verona Daniels and J. Earl Danieley married in 1948, she had reenrolled at Elon to earn a bachelor’s degree. She graduated from the college in 1949 and taught for a year at Elon 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 Elon 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 Elon’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.
Verona Danieley served in various leadership capacities at the Elon 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 Elon. 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.
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.
Danieley was buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Elon.