Dan was born on September 20, 1946, in Seattle, Washington. He was the second of five children, and the first son of Genevieve and George Leslie.

A month before Dan’s ninth birthday he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. This was a significant, life-changing event that shaped and directed his path as a young adult. His love for the Lord and his desire to follow Him eventually brought him to the church in Seattle in 1970. It was there that he fully consecrated his whole life to the Lord.

Dan graduated from Auburn High School in Washington in 1965. He actively participated in school clubs and student body government and was honored to be selected to Boys State. Following high school, he attended Seattle Pacific College. Dan enjoyed skiing and worked as a ski instructor as a young adult. He worked at a few different jobs while growing up, but his diverse career path eventually settled into procurement, where he handled purchasing for government contracts in the aerospace industry. The opportunity to work and serve by purchasing supplies and materials for the construction brothers at the property on Ball Road in Anaheim in the 1980s was instrumental in this career choice.

In 1970, Dan met his wife Dorothy in the church in Seattle. They were married on September 5, 1971, in Seattle, Washington. They began their married life and church life together in Portland, Oregon. In 1974, they moved to Anaheim, California, and two years later, in 1976, they were burdened to begin the church life in Cypress, California. Both Dan and Dorothy had the same mind, goals and desires for their family, and they were blessed with three children, Leanna, Stephen and Deborah.

Dan was fun-loving and playful; he loved to tease his family, especially his three children and six grandchildren, playing games with them and trying to teach them how to play his trumpet. He made reading so fun for his three young children by changing the story plot and character voices according to his “dad humor,” which made the children laugh; they loved having daddy read. He also loved to talk with them about the Lord as they grew, asking them how they were doing, and answering their questions if he was able. His earnest desire was for his children to grow up loving the Lord.

Dan and Dorothy enjoyed serving in the church in Cypress for many years when the Lord began to move in Dan’s spirit to drop his job to serve the Lord full time. In 1986, he obeyed that calling and the Lord led him to Taipei, Taiwan, that August. He was thinking that he would be involved in the full-time training that was about to begin but he received a different aspect of that training, along with all the brothers! To their surprise the first item on their schedule involved the digging of a tunnel to create access between two halls. Covered with dirt from head to toe every day for several months, the brothers labored on that tunnel. One group started from one building, while another group started from the other in order to meet in the middle. However, the two tunnels did not meet up as planned! More labor was needed to complete the job. This was a real training and one of Dan’s fondest memories from that time. He always got a good laugh out of it. The following February, 1987, Dan came to get his family to join him in Taipei. The family also enjoyed and benefited from the unique experience of living, serving and going to school with families from many countries.

Upon returning to the US later that year, Dan resumed work until 1990, when he again began to serve the Lord full time as an instructor at the training center in Anaheim. He particularly enjoyed teaching an extra-curricular singing class. This class prepared the trainees to go to many campuses, singing and giving their testimonies for the gospel.

Dan loved music his whole life, and God gave him a real gift. As a young man, he sang in a youth choir, and he even began directing young people’s singing groups. After coming into the church he could often be found with others around a piano singing his favorite hymns or playing his trumpet. One thing that always made the family so happy were the times when saints would come over for lunch after a meeting. After having sweet fellowship around the table, they would gather in the living room to sing, enjoying the Lord together as Dan played the trumpet and his family accompanied him on the piano and guitar. Music filled their home with joy.

Over the years, Dan and Dorothy participated in the recordings of the semiannual training banner songs, enjoyed by many saints. They were honored to open their home for the recording of the Song of Songs that Brother Howard Higashi had put to music. Having the saints come to sing filled their home with enjoyment and the flow of life. Dan kept his love for the hymns, even after becoming ill. The family shares special eternal memories of gathering around his bed to sing hymns with him. With his weakened voice, he prayerfully repeated after one of the hymns: “The love of God and the grace of Christ, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you, be with you all, be with you all, be with you all.” The family received this sweet blessing. Every heart was touched, from Dan down to the youngest grandchild. Dan also loved meeting new people. Being a good listener, with a friendly, caring nature, he was well-loved and appreciated by those who knew him. He also became a father to many, as so many have testified, through his shepherding of them. Dan never cared to be in the spotlight, but willingly did whatever was asked of him. He learned valuable lessons along his church life journey, having no idea of the Lord’s plan for him. In the early 1990s, around the same time the Lord opened the door for saints to go to Russia, Dan served with Brother Francis Ball in the Lord’s Move to Europe office. Together, Francis and he coordinated to supply the practical needs of the saints who migrated there. After serving in this capacity for several years, the Lord, through the serving brothers, asked Dan to serve in the training center in Moscow, Russia. Although Dan had enjoyed laboring to supply the saints, he wasn’t sure that he wanted to go there himself; however, he was willing to pray about it. After much prayer and seeking the Lord, he had the assurance that the Lord would care for all his concerns, and all his prayers were answered, even above all that he asked. He and Dorothy moved to Moscow in 1998 and served there for 15 years, enjoying their labor in the Lord. There was something genuine and eternal built up among the serving brothers who gathered together in coordination from Taiwan, Korea, the US and Russia. Through their coordination together the Lord was able to break through each culture to gain the oneness among all the brothers. This deeply touched Dan. He and Dorothy treasured their time there.

Upon returning to the US in 2013, Dan continued serving in the church in Cypress, as well as in the middle-age training in Anaheim until he began to grow ill in October of 2022. Even though he grew progressively weaker, he never forgot his family’s or the saints’ names, nor did he forget the lyrics to the hymns. His family could still go to him with a tune and he would remind them of the words. How wonderful it was to still have that part of him until the end!

Dan and Dorothy shared 52 years together, loving the Lord and serving Him.

On the morning of November 7, 2023, at the age of 77, Dan passed away peacefully in his sleep. He is greatly missed.