Daniel Wasinger
11/8/1957 – 8/10/25
On Friday, November 8, 1957, during a local light rain and snow event, Elizabeth (“Betsy”) Wasinger gave birth to her baby boy, Daniel Joseph Paul Wasinger.
Daniel was born in New York State’s second largest city, which was named after the French word “beaufleuve,” meaning beautiful river.
Daniel would grow up as strong and beautiful as the environment that surrounded him — the nearby Buffalo Creek, Lake Erie, Niagara Falls with its ample rainbows, and Canada, much like Daniel, known for being genuinely caring and friendly.
Influenced by his hometown, Daniel grew up with the strength and resilience sufficient to deal with “Lake Effect Storms,” weather-wise and life-wise, while also nurturing his strong love for people, music, and the arts.
Daniel graduated from the State University College at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Design. After his graduation, his art was featured in exhibitions at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and many others throughout Western New York.
In 2003, Daniel decided to move south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he pursued his interests with even greater passion, inspired by the local environment and its natural beauty. This new environmental focus was embraced by the local community, winning many awards in local art and design competitions. Daniel also expanded his services to include logos, marketing, website design, and hosting. The local community of Wilton Manors, Florida — specifically the Wilton Drive Improvement District — benefited greatly from his talent, which can be seen in his beautifully designed logo and large-scale public mural covering the entrance façade to the district.
Over the past two decades, always having a generous and empathetic heart, Daniel hosted a variety of fundraising events, selling his fine artwork to benefit a number of charities, most specifically those committed to breast cancer awareness and research — a very personal mission after losing his mother, Elizabeth, in 1991 to the disease. In 2012, Daniel started “Scarves For Charity” after learning that his Aunt Patricia was also diagnosed with breast cancer. His original paintings were featured on silk, a material both soft and strong, qualities which exemplified his mother and aunt.
In the summer of 2013, one of Daniel’s dear friends, Lisa Egidi Martinez, introduced Daniel to Barbara George, the president of Global Garden, a New Jersey nonprofit in need of website design and hosting. This introduction and subsequent virtual meetings resulted in Daniel hosting and designing all of Ms. George’s business and charitable websites.
It would be another two years before Daniel and Barbara would actually meet in person, in June of 2015, at a coffee shop in Pompano Beach, Florida. During this meeting, they discovered that beyond their love of the environment, cultural diversity, art, and music (specifically Joni Mitchell), they had both lost their mothers to breast cancer.
This discovery deepened their relationship and allowed them to share more than business. At this meeting, between laughter and tears, they became dear friends and agreed to join forces in their efforts to support cancer awareness, research, and survival, and to make a positive difference in the world wherever possible with whatever resources they had — not the least of which were their acts of kindness.
In 2019, Daniel Wasinger joined Barbara George’s charitable organization, accepting the position of Vice President of Global Garden, where he served gallantly throughout the last six years, even as he fought his own health challenges with Ramsay Hunt Syndrome and COPD.
These challenges inspired him to do what he did best — use art to shine a light. Being a lifelong fan of Joni Mitchell, he created a line of fundraising products that included mugs, T-shirts, and images that he called “Art Inspired by Joni,” featuring poignant lyrics from her songs such as, “All good dreamers pass this way some day” (from The Last Time I Saw Richard) and “Love is touching souls” (from A Case of You).
And surely Daniel touched all of our souls and always will — forever.
Rest in Peace, Sweet Angel.