Dan Steven Stanton

Dan was a quick witted man who loved to joke and pull pranks and he loved to be joked with.  He never met a stranger.   He was comfortable to meet and talk to anybody he saw.  He was a tenderhearted man.  He cried as easily as he laughed.  He was very giving and generous.  He was known to pick up hitch hikers and homeless people and give them money.  He always had candy in his pocket at church and every kid in church knew it.  Therefore, it was common to see a line of kids pandering for candy.   He was a Boy Scout as a teen, and was one level away from Eagle Scout.  His father’s ministry moved his family away and he didn’t get to complete that goal.   Dan loved God and enjoyed going to church.  He led the congregational singing at different churches he attended.   

His hobbies included Riding his Trike, Watching Old Westerns, and watching the Country Reunion videos and Gaither music videos.  He was an avid Sudoku and Solitaire player.  He also was an accomplished mandolin player, and loved Blue Grass music.  

Dan was a very hard worker from his youth until his lung condition took his strength.  He began working as a concrete finisher at the age of 15 and worked as long and hard as any grown man on the crew.   He went on to do concrete jobs on the side as extra income for 40 years after that.  Dan worked 45 years as a railroad engineer.  He began his railroad career in 1966 with KCS L&A as a fireman, running passenger trains from Shreveport to Alexandria, Louisiana.  In 1970 he hired on with Cotton Belt Railroad, also as an engineer, in Tyler, Texas.  Cotton Belt was a subsidiary of Southern Pacific, which merged with Union Pacific in 1998.  Therefore, Dan finished out his railroad career with Union Pacific Railroad Until he retired in 2011.  His Railroad career moved him around quite a bit during his work life.  He lived in Bosier City, LA, Tyler TX, Jefferson City MO, Fort Worth TX, and finally Longview, TX when he retired.   

In 1961 Dan’s family moved to San Antonio, Texas, where his father pastored a church. That is where he met Nancy Rose Brown.  Dan was 17 and Nancy was 15.  They fell in love and were married February 9, 1962.  Two years later, they had a bouncing baby boy, Dwayne “Dewey” Steven, who was their “little man” and pride and joy.  Dan loved to tell people that Dewey was the “best boy I’ve got”.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Nancy Stanton, Forney, TX, a son, Dwayne Stanton (Codi Holeman Stanton), Forney, TX, a sister, Dana Stanton Mills (Reverend Bill Mills), Minden, Louisiana, grandchildren, Tori Stanton, Georgetown, TX, Drake Stanton, Forney, TX, Karissa King, Bay City, TX and Tiffany Tipps, Richmond, TX, and one great grandchild, Emilia along with numerous nieces and nephews.  

He is preceded in death by father, Reverend O.G. Stanton, mother, Johnnie Mae Stanton, sister, Delta Fern Stanton Smith and sister, Odessa Mae Stanton.