Obituary for E. Webster Dann

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Life Story for E. Webster Dann

E. Webster Dann May 1, 1929 – March 21, 2017
E. Webster Dann, a retired educator, coach, numismatist, and local historian, passed away at Mercy Hospital after a short illness. He was 87 years old.
Born in Buffalo to Radcliffe Webster Dann and Helen Graves Dann, and stepson of Margaret Murray Warner Dann, Webster grew up on Hodge Avenue with his 2 brothers, Radcliffe, Jr., and Chester Graves Dann.
As a youth, Webster, along with his brothers and cousins too numerous to name, enjoyed the Hodge Avenue neighborhood. They also enjoyed hockey, at which Web excelled, along with trips to their cottage, “City Hall”, in Lorraine Bay, Ontario, as well as trips to the Steven’s farm in Attica, “Maplewood”.
After graduating from Nichols School, Webster decided to buck the trend of attending Yale, as did his Grandfather, Father and 2 brothers, instead attending Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
Such was Web’s skill at the game of hockey, while playing for the Varsity Squad at Lehigh, he also played for another, to remain unnamed, university under an alias.
He graduated from Lehigh in 1953 with a degree in Industrial Psychology. He worked for Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio, before being drafted into the Army. He served 2 years at the First Infantry Division Headquarters in Germany.
After the Army, Webster made a career switch to teaching 7th & 8th Grade Math, a choice he would never regret, nor certainly would his students.
In or around 1957, Web began his teaching career at Governor Dummer Academy (now known as The Governors Academy) in Massachusetts. He would Summer at his cottage on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, affectionately named “Aftermath”.
At this same time, Web started a lifelong friendship with the great Bobby Orr. They maintained this relationship via correspondence after Web’s return to the city he loved, Buffalo, to teach at The Park School. Shortly after his return, Webster took a position at Nichols School, his and a majority of his family’s Alma Mater, to teach and coach hockey and soccer for the next 30 years. He was also very involved in youth hockey outside of Nichols, coaching and sponsoring the Tonawanda Lightning for many years.
Known as a genuinely concerned and involved educator and coach, Web maintained friendships with a great many of his former students and players, stretching all the way back to the beginning of his teaching career.
Webster enjoyed studying and collecting Buffalo Memorabilia, especially from the era of the Pan American Exposition. He was a passionate coin collector and loved solving mathematical puzzles. He also enjoyed challenging family and friends with these same puzzles at holidays and family gatherings, much to their chagrin.
Web was also committed to preserving Native American History and was a charter member of the Native American Museum in Washington, DC. In addition, for the last 7 years, Web has sponsored and corresponded with a Navajo teenager, Zachary, who lives on the Navajo Reservation outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Webster is survived by his nephews, Christopher H., Radcliffe III, Frederick G., and nieces, Elizabeth M. and Helen G. Dann. He was also Great Uncle of Alice E. Dann, C. Harriman Dann, Jr., Radcliffe Dann IV and Bradley G. Dann.
Private funeral services will be held at the convenience of the family. A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date.
Memorials in Webster’s memory to Futures for Children, 9600 Tennyson St. N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87122.