Obituary of Daniel Arthur Kemp

Daniel Arthur Kemp, 75, passed away on October 24, 2022, in Minneapolis, MN.  He was born December 2, 1946, in Buffalo, NY to Clarence and Betty Mae (Stanger) Kemp and grew up in Lancaster, NY.  Dan loved music and played the trumpet in the high-school marching band that his father led.  In the 1970s, he worked two seasons for the U.S. Merchant Marines as a Steward on ore boats from Buffalo to Duluth.  He moved to Minneapolis, took some courses at the UofM, and did computer programming/analyst work for Norwest Bank.  At a party he threw in the mid-1980s, Dan met Catherine Schluter, who was the date of a dear friend, and from that point on they were inseparable, like the iconic toy magnetized pair of Black & White Scottie dogs, which adorned their wedding cake when they married in 2000.  He treasured his ties with his childhood communities in the Buffalo area and in rural Potter County, PA and had a strong commitment to supporting and maintaining contact with friends.  His passion was geology, rock collecting, and polishing gemstones.  Poetry was an integral part of his psyche and his favorite poem was Ginsburg’s “Howl”.  He loved the Grateful Dead, enjoyed reading, philosophical discussions, gardening, and quiet walks in nature.  He also volunteered as a Teaching Assistant in biology at Edison High School, was involved with developmentally disabled youth through the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, and volunteered feeding homeless youth.  He has been a member of the Buddhist Minneapolis Nyingma Group.

Dan is survived by his loving wife of 22 years, Catherine; sister Mary Ellen (Gene) Heathershaw, brother Stephen (Barbara) Kemp, and sister Gerry Lynn Kemp; nieces and nephews Rachel (Seth) James and Elliot Kemp, Paula (Robert) Kendall, Andrew (Haven) Heathershaw, and Timothy Heathershaw; and many grand nieces and nephews.  Also survived by his wife’s many sisters and brothers, sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces and nephews, and grand nieces and nephews. 

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness NAMI https://www.nami.org/Home, the Buddhist Center: Chagdud Gonpa Rigdzin Ling (https://www.chagdudgonpa.org/, or a non-profit organization of your choice.  Condolences may be left on Cremation Society of Minnesota’s online guest book at (https://cremationsocietyofmn.com/tribute/all-services/index.html).  Celebrations of Life will happen in the spring in Minneapolis and in Buffalo.