The Reverend Dana Lee Hamrick was born on October 15, 1920, in Webster Springs,
West Virginia, to Walter F. and Nanna Miller Hamrick.
He graduated from Webster Springs High School in 1939 and attended college in Maine and West Virginia. He served in WWII for five years, receiving a good conduct medal for American Defense Service and a ribbon for European, African, and Middle Eastern Service.
He married Zetta G. Author on October 27, 1945. They had three children: Maria Hamrick Goodman, born on March 5, 1947; Christy Hamrick Wiley, born on July 16, 1954, and Carol Hamrick Young, born on December 27, 1960.
The Reverend Mr. Hamrick was licensed to preach in 1954 and was ordained a local deacon in 1957 and a local elder in 1959. He became an associate member of the Florida Conference in 1969. He served the following appointments: Anthony, 1968-71; sabbatical, 1971-72; Pierson, 1972-77; Suwannee Valley Circuit, 1977-78; and DeBary, 1978-86. He and his wife retired to Tallahassee in 1986.
He died of a heart attack on December 25, 2007. Funeral services were held on December 27, 2007, at Lake Jackson United Methodist Church, with the Reverends Ray Hanselman, Kevin Hall, and Gabe Goodman officiating. Burial was in Pierson, Florida.
Survivors include his wife, Zetta G. Hamrick of Craigsville, West Virginia, and his daughters: Maria H. Goodman of Neptune Beach, Florida; Christy H. Wiley of Ocala, Florida; and Carol L. Young of Craigsville, West Virginia.
Mr. Hamrick enjoyed fishing and telling old stories of the past to get a good laugh. He looked forward to his prayer services with Ray Hanselman every week. He liked to visit family and friends in West Virginia and take home some West Virginia ramps, a sort of wild onion that his Florida friends had never eaten.
When visiting his last brother, Emmitt, in a nursing home in West Virginia in October 2007, his last words were "If you get to Heaven before I do, keep your boot in the gate and I'll be right behind you. If I get there before you do, I'll do the same for you." Emmitt died on December 12, 2007, thirteen days before Dana.
Submitted by Carol Young