GL_031617

18 | March 16, 2017 | The glenview lantern news
glenviewlantern.com
The Best
Is Yet To Come
In Memoriam
Loyola grad Collyer was
‘hub of our social circle’
Eric DeGrechie
Contributing Editor
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Generous. Hilarious.
Caring. Outgoing.
When those are the
words people use to describe
you, it’s a sign of a
good life.
According to the people
that knew him best, Daniel
G. Collyer was all of
these and much more.
Sadly, the Loyola graduate
died suddenly on Feb.
13. Collyer was 56.
“One of his hallmarks
is that you never had
any trouble asking him
for help and he always
wanted to help people,”
said lifelong friend and
fellow Wilmette resident
Dave Fox, who graduated
with Collyer from Loyola
Academy in 1978. “Everybody
that got to know
him was immediately
drawn to him and he was
fun.”
Born Feb. 23, 1960,
Collyer was the cherished
son of the late Theodore
and Eilleen Collyer. He
was also the dear brother
of Cathy (Dave) Nettleton,
Susie (Kevin) Medick,
and Michael Collyer
(Ann Repp).
While growing up in
Wilmette, Collyer and
Fox attended St. Joseph’s
School together for grade
school. The two would
continue their schooling
at Loyola Academy where
Collyer got a reputation
for being a bit of a prankster.
“For our group of
friends, we always called
him the ‘social director.’
Everybody would call
him to find out where we
Daniel Collyer, 56, a Loyola Academy graduate, recently
passed away. Photo submitted
should meet that night,”
Fox said. “He was kind of
the hub of our social circle.
We had a large group
of friends and he was at
the center of it.”
While at Loyola, Collyer
met Wilmette native
Tom Crowley, who currently
lives in Wauconda.
“It’s kind of funny how
we became such good
friends. We connected
and became really tight
throughout high school,”
Crowley said. “We played
rugby together. He was an
excellent athlete. We used
to do a lot of night skiing
together.”
Following graduation
from Loyola, Collyer attended
Xavier University
before returning to the
area. During his work
career while living in
Lincoln Park, he was a
former director of community
services at the
Cook County State’s Attorney’s
Office. He also
later served as a director
of marketing for the Illinois
Public Treasurers Investment
Pool at the State
Treasurer’s office.
During that time according
to Fox, Collyer
became interested in fixing
up houses and working
on rehab projects. He
eventually decided he
liked it enough to become
a general contractor. After
returning to Wilmette
around 1998, he formed
his own company, Collyer
Home Remodeling.
Crowley, an active musician,
has many fond
memories of Collyer
showing up at his various
gigs and participating in
the shows to the roar of
the crowd as they shard
their love of music.
Collyer was the beloved
husband of Laura Collyer,
nee Cross, and the loving
father of Charlie and
Jake Collyer. Laura Collyer
grew up in Winnetka.
Charlie Collyer is currently
a freshman at Indiana
University and Jake is a
senior at New Trier.
“Dan and Laura
would’ve been married
for 25 years this summer
in June. They met through
mutual friends,” Fox said.
“Dan was always very active
in the life of his kids.
Dan and Laura were very
Please see Memoriam, 30