Wendell K. Daniels Sr., 68, formerly of Philadelphia, retired Air Force master sergeant, former facilities manager at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, mentor, artist, chess wizard, golfer, and basketball player, coach, and referee, died Friday, Aug. 28, of cancer at a hospice center near his home in San Antonio, Texas.
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Born and reared in West Philadelphia, Sergeant Daniels joined the Air Force after graduating from West Philadelphia High School in 1976 and spent 24 years and six months serving at military bases in Korea, Panama, Hawaii, California, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and elsewhere.
Before retiring in 2002, he worked in military intelligence at the Pentagon, was stationed at presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland, and took part in the 1989 operation that captured military dictator Manuel Noriega in Panama. He attended leadership programs in the Air Force, rose to master sergeant, and mentored young airmen and junior non-commissioned officers.
He organized relief efforts after natural disasters and earned military awards and medals. His followed his father, uncle, and older brother into the Air Force by enlisting in 1978.
“It was his sense of duty,” his daughter, Lyndell Anderson, said. “It was part of his family.”
A natural athlete — he played baseball, football, and basketball on West Philly playgrounds as a boy — Sergeant Daniels played basketball on Air Force base teams, coached women’s basketball baseteams, and, certified as a referee, officiated at base games and college games in Philadelphia and elsewhere. He refereed summer camp games for the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers when he was stationed in Hawaii and smiled in pictures with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and Jerry West.
He started drawing and painting in high school, and considered a career as a cartoonist. In 2023, he personally presented a rendering of President Barack Obama to the president at a golf outing.
He was the best player on his junior high school chess team and later came close to becoming a master. He played golf for years and followed the Eagles and 76ers.
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Sergeant Daniels worked as a facilities manager at Langley after leaving the Air Force and settled in San Antonio in 2017. In February, he championed racial equality and more opportunities for Black college basketball officials on a podcast with fellow former college referee Ted Valentine.
“He could be outgoing one minute and reflective the next,” his daughter said. “He liked reading and parties.”
Wendell Kennedy Daniels was born Aug. 13, 1958. He collected autographs as a boy, played varsity baseball, and was a starting cornerback on the high school football team.
He met Lyndery Webb after playing football with her brothers in the neighborhood, and they married in 1978, and had a daughter, Lyndell, and a son, Wendell Jr. He and his wife posed for wedding pictures on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and moved from base to base for more than two decades. But only after the children had finished the school year, his wife said.
He stayed in touch with high school friends and was active in West Philadelphia alumni events. “He was the life of the party,” his wife said. “But he serious about making people happy.”
In addition to his wife and children, Sergeant Daniels is survived by two sisters, two brothers, and other relatives. A brother died earlier.
A celebration of his life is to be held later.
Donations in his name may be made to the American Liver Foundation, Box 299, West Orange, N.J. 07052.