from Fall 2002 Fanfare
Judge robes to hang beside band jacket in Daniel’s closet

Everyone tells college kids to dream big and Don Daniel did. He had, in fact, dreamed of being a lawyer since sixth grade.

But nowhere in his wildest dreams, admits Daniel, did he ever fantasize about being a judge. Running unopposed in the general election this fall, after emerging the victor in a tough Republican primary, Daniel will be sworn in as Tippecanoe County Circuit Court Judge in January.

During his 27 years as a Lafayette attorney, family law became his bailiwick. As a Circuit Court Judge he’ll also deal with family issues – guardianships, adoptions, estates, trusts, divorces and civil suits.
I’m going to be using some of the same skills but from a different spot in the courtroom,” he says. “That’s going to be fun.”

Daniel (wife Sandy is a Purdue grad and son Jim is a middle school band director in Tennessee) promised himself he’d have a new job by age 55 because burn-out presents a serious problem for lawyers. “People come in and pour their hearts out and no one can ignore that. It affects you. You end up struggling along with them for months and months,” says the 56-year-old.

“A lot of lawyers run out of energy because people depend on you so much.”

Daniel’s experiences as a judge pro tem gave him a taste for the bench, and he decided to run when the opportunity presented itself. Moving into new areas of law holds great appeal, but there are other things he’ll miss – like working as part of a legal team.

“As judge pro tem there have been times when I’ve gotten down off the bench and really felt like I did the right thing, and did it well. When that happens you want someone to give a high five to, and there’s no one on the judge’s team.”

At Purdue in the 1960s, Daniel was a member of the marching band when it made its first Rose Bowl appearance and participated in the first band trip to Venezuela in January 1966.

Memories from an elementary school performance on that trip remain vivid. “Kids were on the balconies and surrounding us on the school’s plaza. They were screaming and running up, wanting to touch us. It was like we were the Beatles. Until I became judge no one else had ever asked for my autograph.”

Looking back at the elements that shaped his character, “I learned more about responsibility and leadership in band than in all the other 102 credit hours I took at Purdue,” he says.

“My nightmare was never that I’d forget to study. It was that I’d show up at the football field without my hat. I still have that dream. When I’m under pressure, there’s Al (Wright).”

Throughout his adult life, music has been his escape. Daniel serves on Purdue Bands Advisory Board, and always plays sax in alumni marching band. In Alumni Concert Band, the Purdue Summer Band and the Lafayette Citizen’s Band, he plays bass clarinet.

“I think it’s a more important escape now,” than at Purdue, he says. “Kids can better express their emotions. People who walk around in suits all day need something like music.”

If there’s time for yet another career in Daniel’s life - after he retires as judge - he knows what he wants it to be. “I want to play ragtime piano in a swamp bar in Florida. And I’m reluctant to wait until I’m 68 to take off my tie for the last time.”