Daniel Walter Gaiser Jr., 80, passed away peacefully after a brief illness on April 19, 2026, in Silver City, NM, with his son, James (Skippy) Sanders, at his side. Born on January 27, 1946, in Spokane, WA, Dan was the eldest of 3 siblings. Dan was a high achiever in high school and also worked as a US Forest Service aid. Dan lived a life dedicated to helping others as well as traveling and living overseas.
Dan graduated from Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane in 1964 and from Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington in 1968. He got his MBA from Boston University in the mid 1970's and later graduated with his MSW from University of New England (UNE) in Biddeford, ME in 1996, after which Dan served as a clinical social worker at Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME until 2020 when he retired.
After graduating from Whitman College, Dan joined the army where he was trained in Arabic and Prisoner-of-War Interrogation. After his stint in the Army, Dan went to Saudi Arabia where he taught English for a year and then traveled by motorcycle through the Middle East to Greece. It was Dan's love of Greece that attracted him to his son's mother in 1977. He crashed a folk-dance camp where Dottie (Sanders) Lacy was dressed in a Greek costume because she too was a fan of Greece.
After Dan moved back to the States in 1971, he struggled with PTSD and joined a therapy group in Boston where he developed some lifelong friends and was able to move on with his life with great success. He had gotten his MBA in Boston and tried working as a financial analyst. He quickly learned that this was not his field, and this prompted him to move into the people-helping occupations in which he was so good.
In 1982 Dan became a father to his son, James Daniel Sanders. Even though he didn't marry James' mother, Dan stayed in close contact with his son and would visit him from the west coast and then from China where he had moved in 1988 to be an English teacher at the Geology University in Beijing. Dan very generously invited and paid for Dottie and James to visit him in China in 1991, and again in 1993. It was in 1993 that Dan returned from China and moved to Maine to be close to his son so he could become more involved in his life. During James' teenage years, Dan was a very loving and active father, guiding and helping and challenging his son.
During the years when his son, James, was young, Dan traveled and lived in Spokane, WA and then in California and later in China. His work among the Chinese students there was very satisfying and led him to realize that he was really gifted at helping others and being able to do so with a great sense of humor. By the time Dan moved to Maine in 1993, he became convinced that he wanted to be trained in Social Work. He would always say later that his education at UNE was the best he could have gotten anywhere, and that it helped him significantly in his work as a clinical social worker in such a successful way.
Dan's many years working as an outpatient social worker at Maine Med were the most satisfying years and occupation of his lifetime. He developed cutting edge materials for working with trauma survivors in his counselling and teaching at Partial Hospital. And he did all this while living in his van and often holding down three jobs for many years.
He was really well appreciated and valued by his colleagues and patients for the way that he helped them, often bringing in his delightful sense of humor by wearing a different funny tie and hat each day. After Dan retired, as he was walking along the streets of Portland, people would call out to him, giving him their thanks and appreciation for what he had done for them and for how he had saved their life, which he often really did. During his years leading partial hospital clinics at Maine Med, he often spoke freely about his own suicidal ideation to decrease the stigma and in the hopes that others might speak more freely and get help.
Dan was always very generous with family and friends and even his tenants at his mobile home. Over the years Dan would make a great effort to stay in touch with his old friends, even going back as far as his elementary school friends. For much of Dan's lifetime he would write in his journal about his day and his feelings and then email it to a large group of family and friends.
Dan's last year was very difficult for him. He fell and broke his hip in April 2025 and spent 3 months in rehab before being transferred to the Governor King memory care unit in Topsham, ME near where Dottie and Paul live. Because of his growing memory issues, he was not able to learn to use a walker, so he was confined to a wheelchair. He was well taken care of and loved by the staff. On January 27th of this year, Dan was able to enjoy a special party for his 80th birthday attended by his close friends from Maine and Massachusetts.
Dan was doing well and his son, James (aka Skippy), really wanted him to be moved to Silver City, NM so Dan could be close to James and Monica and able to meet his granddaughter, Tara. Dan arrived there at the end of February and had wonderful times with them and was delighted to finally meet his beautiful granddaughter. Dan was being well taken care of at Millie's Assisted Living Community, but an illness hit him which infected his lungs. After 3 days of staying alive only with medical intervention, they took him off life support which was what Dan had clearly explained that he desired.
Daniel is survived by his son, James Sanders, his daughter-in-law, Monica Sanders, and his 8-month-old granddaughter, Tara Sanders, who live in Silver City, NM, and by James' mother and stepfather, Dottie and Paul Lacy who were very involved with Dan's care after his retirement in Maine. Dan is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Anne and Jim Pearson and their 4 children; and his sister, Kathy Gaiser and her 2 children. He is also remembered fondly by his many former students, clients, colleagues and friends.
A celebration of life will be held in Silver City, and one in Spokane, WA, and another in Maine which will be open to friends and family later in the spring at a time and place to be announced.
In lieu of flowers, his family kindly requests donations be sent in Dan's memory to Maine Public Radio ( www.mainepublic.org ), the station that Dan was so faithful to listen to for the 33 years that he lived in Maine, the Alzheimer's Association ( https://www.alz.org ) for their research work, or The National Alliance on Mental Health ( www.NAMI.org ).
Daniel Walter Gaiser, Jr. lived with integrity and great humor and a love for helping people. His presence was a huge blessing to many people around the world, and he will be remembered fondly by all.
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