Daniel Chris Frey was born in Portland, Oregon on October 30, 1959. He went to Clackamas High School, growing up with his older sister and two younger brothers, both of whom continued to have daily phone conversations with him throughout his adult life. Before graduating from Santa Ana college with a degree in engineering, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, which helped him finance the remainder of his education. In the Marines, he worked as a Flight Equipment Technician from December 1979 to March 1982. This was where he learned the meaning of hard work and gained his Semper Fi spirit, something that he maintained as part of his persona for the rest of his life.

After his honorable discharge, he worked as a Senior Associate Engineer for Emerson Network Power. He worked for Emerson for over 17 years, and during this time had his two kids, Vanya and Daniel Chris Jr. He worked as an engineer for a couple of other companies before joining Eaton Corporation, where he would work for the rest of his career. During his career he travelled all around the world and the United States, fixing yacht systems, security systems, airport systems and cloud service systems. After a few decades of living in Orange County, California, he made a big move to the Tri-Cities, WA.

Here he met his wife of the last eight years, Janice Olsen, and became stepfather to three young women, Jenn, Kelsey and Sarah, whom he watched go from teenagers to adults, and in fact had the honor of walking Kelsey down the aisle at her wedding last July. His daughter Vanya married Matt Stegner in 2013 and the couple continues to live in Mission Viejo, California with their infant son Luke Daniel, who Dan had the pleasure of meeting in January.

Dan was never short of humor and loved to play videogames and watch sci-fi. He and Janice went out to their favorite restaurant every Friday night. Shortly after moving in together in 2016, they adopted a lively, friendly golden retriever, Samuel Clemens Olsen-Frey. They loved Sammy so much they decided to adopt a sister for him three years later, Charlotte Rose, more affectionately known as Charlie. A year ago, they also adopted two mischievous cats, Bo and Luke- yes, they are named after Dukes of Hazard characters.

Janice and Dan liked to travel, particularly to tropical places. They got certified in scuba diving together several years ago and have since completed close to 30 dives. Janice and Dan's last big trip before his cancer diagnosis was to St. Martin's where they did a 7-day small-group cruise and enjoyed some scuba diving. Last June, Dan was diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer. He fought hard, with Janice helping as much as she could. The dogs and cats tried to do whatever they could as well, which mostly involved sitting on his feet or lap. His son Danny moved to the Tri-Cities in July to help his father through his illness.

Dan used the months since June to spend the time with all of his family, while continuing to go through his treatments. Sarah and her fiancé Antonio visited in June until July. Kelsey and her husband Brian got married in the Tri-cities in July, where Dan was able to walk Kelsey down the aisle. Jennifer and her partner Colin have visited with their two dogs throughout the last few months. His brother Ben came to visit as well. Dan and Janice hosted most of the family for a wonderful Christmas. Dan poured all his energy into his last months, even making a trip with Janice to Mission Viejo to see his newborn grandson in January.

After fighting for nine long months, he died at home on March 7, 2026 surrounded by family.

He is survived by his wife Janice, his children: Danny and Vanya (Matt), his grandchild: Luke Daniel, his stepchildren: Kelsey (Brian), Sarah (Antonio) and Jennifer (Colin), his brothers: Ben and Larry, his dogs: Sammy and Charlie, and his cats: Bo and Luke.