Daniel passed away New Year's Eve to complications from COVID-19.

Dan was a kind, loyal, giving soul who was one of the best storytellers of all time. He'd have the entire room rolling with vivid details and hilarious memories. Dan was an optimist, he never complained, worked hard every day of his life, and unconditionally loved his family and friends.

Dan was a fanatic about movies and sports. He could recount any scene from any movie that he'd probably watched at least three times. Jaws and Rocky were at the top of the list. During his fight with COVID he found inspiration from his hero, Rocky, who would keep getting up after being knocked down.

Along with movies, Dan loved Sooner football, the Dallas Cowboys and the Thunder.  You rarely saw him without wearing some type of OU swag, and he would passionately converse with anyone about games past, present, and future.

Dan worked at O'Reilly Auto parts for 17 years. It was his second family. He was proud that he never missed a day of work until he started having health issues and, even then, his work was a priority for him.

Along with many friends from O'Reilly, Sonic and Northwest Classen; Kaycee and Violet became a part of Dan's life.  He would beam when he spoke about Kaycee and Violet and took great pride in both.  During Dan's battle in the hospital, the outpouring of love, support, and prayers from his friends, our extended families, and colleagues was inspiring. We believe he felt that love then and at the time of his passing, which brings our family great comfort.

During Dan's time in the hospital he received kindness and care from the nurses in ICU at Baptist. The nurses were our lifeline to Dan since we could not be there with him because of COVID. As a family, we clung to daily updates from his healthcare team.  The ICU nurses coordinated calls with Dan and the family, the first of which brought him out of his coma and relayed his thumbs-up responses as we updated him on movies, sports and told him how much we loved him.   We had hoped to see his face again, we had hoped to hear his voice again, we had hoped to laugh with him again.

As a son, his mother says, he was affectionate, endearing, eager for conversation and fiercely opinionated.  His lifelong greeting to her was "hey mama".  He reveled in being the youngest, with all the perks that brings, and in public would add in an introduction, "I'm her youngest". At his very core he was a storyteller.  All family stories began with "Remember the time…?  He was a formidable charades player and a quote from one of his childhood books, Saint-Exupery's "The Little Prince", belongs to Daniel.  "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.  What is essential is invisible to the eye"

Daniel is survived by his mother Jane Elizabeth Wallace, his father Herbert Giles (Carol Giles), his siblings, Peter (Dorothy), Jennifer (John Okon), Carrie and Phillip (Hayley) and his nieces and nephews Gavin and Lexie Giles, Sam Okon, Lyra and Brody Meyer.

A memorial will take place in Oklahoma City at a later date when larger gatherings are safe.