Daniel Lee Jones

Dan, or Danny, as he was known to some, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana to Joe Lewis and Flora "Molly" Jones on March 3, 1947. He spent his early years under the Pentecostal revival tents of Kansas City, Missouri. His favorite pastimes were listening to music, playing sandlot football, and watching monster movies. He lived through the great flood of 1951 but the family lost everything. Danny and his mother and brother came out west to California in the 1960s. When they arrived in Oakland enroute to their new home, Molly asked the cab driver to drive around Lake Merritt twice, just so they could admire the crown jewel of their new city.

Dan attended Fremont High School where he played football and briefly held the title of "Strongest Teenager in California" from his weightlifting endeavors. A proud graduate of Oakland's "Merritt University" as we liked to joke (Merritt Junior College, really), there he enjoyed acting in student drama productions and singing and playing keyboards. An especially fond memory was when he was practicing piano in the auditorium and Edwin Hawkins & the Northern California State Gospel Choir unexpectedly came down the aisle. They asked him if he knew "Oh Happy Day” and sure enough he did; it was a grand moment.

In the 1970’s he built his music career throughout the Bay Area, singing and playing keyboards -- everything from blues, to pop, to standards to jazz and rock 'n roll. He played in lounges and supper clubs including the Claremont Hotel and Scott's in Oakland, The Point After and Luciano’s in Danville, and the Curtain Call in San Francisco. Dan earned multiple glowing write-ups in Perry Phillips' Oakland Tribune "Night Sounds" column. Phillips marveled at Dan's wide repertoire and "rich baritone voice". Occasionally Dan performed as his alter-ego "Ahaz Hickman" -- a backwoods bumpkin with a big belly, overalls, a washboard and a rubber chicken -- for laughs from audiences of all kinds. In the mid-1980's he hosted the Sunday afternoon California Country A.M. live radio show from the Country Palace in Concord. Dan was a huge fan of character actor John Carradine and organized an honoring for him at the historic (sadly no longer extant) Sherlock Holmes Room of the San Francisco Holiday Inn.

Some of Dan's favorite gigs were playing on the Hornblower cruises in the SF Bay. Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge was always a joy, no matter how many times he may have done it. It will be his final resting place.

Dan loved good times, nature, Bay Area history, and Peet’s coffee. So many people over the decades were drawn to his humor, warmth, bright smile and beautiful music. A man rich in spirit and a true people-person, “Pops” passed after a long illness on St. Paddy's Day 2025: a good day to set off for that pot o' gold on the other side. He was predeceased by his brother David and is survived by his daughter Abbie, son-in-law Lucas, and grandson Joaquin "Chochi" Maciel of Oakland, California.