Loren D. Daily died peacefully at Holy Cross Village in South Bend, Indiana on August 15, 2023. He was 94.
He was born (or so legend has it) on a kitchen table in Thornhope, a tiny speck on the Indiana map. He grew up with sisters Marilee and Betty in nearby Remington, where father Everett ran the grain elevator and mother Janet worked at the public library. Loren studied economics at Depauw University, then served in the Army, guarding the Korean War Command Headquarters in Tokyo as a member of the Honor Guard. After two years of service, he returned home and followed his father into the grain business. His work took him to Chicago, where he reacquainted himself with Gloria Lindquist, a fellow Depauw graduate. They married on April 6, 1957, and moved to suburban Riverside, Gloria's hometown.
Loren spent most of his career at the Chicago Board of Trade, where he traded grain and soybeans. It was a high-pressure, competitive world, but he thrived. While working at the Board, he began acquiring farmland in Indiana and North Carolina. When he retired, in 1985, he returned to his farming roots, growing the corn and soybeans he had once traded. He and Gloria moved to Plymouth, Indiana, turning a weekend home into a full-time residence (though he returned to Chicago often to visit his beloved Art Institute and Symphony Orchestra).
Outside of work, Loren was a public-spirited member of every community he lived in. He was president of the Riverside District 96 school board; scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 24; an Elder in the Riverside Presbyterian Church and the Sunnyside Presbyterian Church (South Bend); a spirited tenor in many church choirs, as well as a Sunday School teacher and youth group leader; a member of the South Bend Symphony board; and a generous supporter, often anonymously, of dozens of charities.
Loren was happiest when he was gardening, walking, biking, birdwatching, reading (always underlining his favorite passages), and traveling (he visited all 50 states and 38 countries). He loved a road trip, always staying off the highways and never taking the same road twice. But he loved nothing more than his family. He was a devoted husband to Gloria for every one of the 66 years they were married. A caring, involved father to Bob and Debbie, and father-in-law to Janet and Grant. A fun Grandpa who liked to put his grandchildren - Emma, Scott, Sean, and Owen - in the front-end loader of his John Deere tractor and lift them into a tree. It was a blessing that he lived long enough to meet his first great-grandson, Lachlan.
He led a spirited, exemplary life, and our appreciation and love for him will never fade.
Loren was preceded in death by his parents, Everett and Janet (Doud) Daily, and his sisters, Marilee (Daily) Goad and Betty (Daily) Geddes. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Gloria Lindquist Daily; his son, Robert Everett Daily, and daughter-in-law Janet (Kerrigan) Daily; his daughter, Debbie Daily Masson, and son-in-law Grant Masson; his grandchildren Emma Katherine Daily, Scott John Masson and his wife, LeaAnna (Miller) Masson, Sean Michael Masson and Owen Kerrigan Daily, as well as great-grandson Lachlan Grant Masson.
A memorial service will take place on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 1:00 pm EST. at Sunnyside Church, 115 S Frances St. South Bend, IN 46617 with Rev. Joel D. Moody officiating. There will be a reception with a light lunch after the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to one of the organizations Loren supported: the Sunnyside Presbyterian Church Food Pantry (www.sunnysidechurch.org/give); the Alzheimer's Association (act.alz.org/site/Donation2); the South Bend Symphony (southbendsymphony.org/support/); or the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org/ways-to-give).
