Daniel David Pearl, of Southborough, MA.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, July 15, 1955. Died in Worcester, MA, August 14, 2024.
Dan was born in Brooklyn, NY and grew up in Little Neck, NY. He was the beloved husband of Shelagh Ellman-Pearl and cherished father of Lily Pearl, both of whom he loved with all his heart. He was the loving son of Paul Pearl and Arlene (Levy), late of Pittsford, NY.
As a child, Dan loved Kiddy City, an amusement park near his home in Queens, the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and geeking out with computers and photography. He spent several summers as a camper and then a photography counselor at Buck’s Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp in New Milford, Connecticut. He loved his time at Buck’s Rock and was a proud alumnus who continued to stay in touch with fellow alums and at reunions. He graduated from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1977, and that summer he moved to the Boston area for his first job as a software engineer at Data General. He continued to work in the software development and engineering field at Stratus Technologies, Fidelity Investments, eScription, and Nuance, among others, until his retirement from CW/Mars in 2019.
Dan’s enduring passion, outside his family, was traditional contra and folk dancing. He fell in love with contra dancing at the first dance he attended soon after moving to Massachusetts and decided he wanted to learn to call contra dances. In the ensuing decades, he called frequently at dances, special dance weekends and dance camps in the greater Boston and New England area and around the country. Dan choreographed more than 15 contra dances, many of which are still called and danced around the United States and abroad. Dan also taught international folk dancing for dances in New England. He is remembered as a much-loved caller and dance leader with a calm, straightforward and humorous demeanor that made beginning and experienced dancers alike feel very comfortable. Many people, including, and especially his wife, Shelagh, consider him to be their best waltz partner ever.
He was a proud member and leader of several traditional folk organizations, most notably the New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA), for which he served on the board and held many organizational roles for decades. In 1990, Dan was central to continuing and transforming the Thursday Night Contra Dance in Cambridge, MA, to a NEFFA-sponsored dance with a dynamic format offering different callers and live bands every week. This variety proved extremely popular, and the dance continues today, now in Concord, MA. In 2014, he was awarded a lifetime membership in NEFFA in recognition of his numerous and longstanding contributions to the organization and the community it supports. Dan was president of the Country Dance Society-Boston Centre (CDS) in 1984; sometime later, he conceived and promoted CDS’ production of the 15-CD series of Bare Necessities dance music played at English country dances in the US and abroad. He served on the board of the national Country Dance and Song Society (CDSS), based in Northampton, MA, and he was a featured contra dance leader at summer dance camps run by CDSS. Dan was a beloved dance teacher and leader of the Framingham Folk Dancers, for which he designed the T-Shirt “Specializing in Dances from Earth”. He was famous for creative and outrageous costumes at the FFD annual Halloween party.
Dan met his wife Shelagh at contra and folk dancing. Shelagh first saw how funny and kind he was at a Folk Arts Center of New England beginner folk dance he was guest teaching. She was charmed by his humor and gentle reassurance to nervous newcomers, wearing his trademark bright, different-colored socks to help dancers distinguish left and right feet. They married in 1991, with a wedding celebrated with dancing, always a special part of their lives together. Six years later they adopted their daughter Lily, who was born in China. Dan adored Lily and they shared the same wicked sense of humor. Dan shared with Lily (and Shelagh) his love of Broadway musicals and showtunes, and he was so proud Lily surpassed him in her detailed knowledge of the genre. Seeing musicals live on stage or filmed was an enduring pleasure they all enjoyed as a family.
in 2001, Dan learned that he had polycystic kidney disease, which would eventually lead to complete kidney failure. After he became sick, a kidney donation from Shelagh in 2011 gave him five years of relatively good health until that kidney failed. For the past eight years, Dan courageously lived with the restrictions of dialysis. During the Covid epidemic, Shelagh and Lily learned to give him hemodialysis at home, which proved much more comfortable for him and slowed the progression of his illness. Over the past five years, Dan miraculously survived many medical crises before the last one that he could not overcome.
The Covid epidemic and illnesses prevented Dan from attending dances in recent years as much as he would have liked, but he remained an active online member of the dance communities and continued his roles in the running of NEFFA. He was thrilled to attend the April 2024 New England Folk Festival in person and spend time with many friends.
Dan was known and loved by his family and friends for his sense of humor, generosity with his time, mentorship, offers of help, practical advice, and problem solving. His loss is deeply felt in the dance communities to which he gave so much and by his family and friends.
A memorial celebration of Dan’s life will be held at the Concord Scout House, 74 Walden Street, Concord, MA on September 29, 2024, at 10:30 AM. Future commemorations of his life will be held in dance communities he loved.
Donations may be made in his memory to the New England Folk Festival Association, P.O. Box 2789, Acton MA 01720, or at [PayPal] and to Buck’s Rock Camp at bucksrockcamp.org/donate.
(Photo and Obituary via Short & Rowe Funeral Home)
