Beth Daniell

Beth Daniell died August 6 from Alzheimer's disease at Sunrise of Buckhead in Atlanta. She was born in Dublin, Georgia, on September 1, 1947, to Arvis and Mildred Daniell. The family relocated to Thomaston, Georgia, in 1958. In 1965, Beth graduated from high school as one of the top ten students in her class. She earned a BA in English from Mercer University, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. Her lifelong commitment to educating the underserved began at Mercer in the summers, when she was chosen to serve as a counselor in the Upward Bound program, whose aim was to increase the chance of attending college for certain at-risk students. In 1969 she began her teaching career in the DeKalb County School System, first at Gordon High School and then at Tucker. While teaching in DeKalb, she completed her MA in English at Georgia State. In the early 1980's, Beth bravely moved to Texas to pursue and earn a PhD in rhetoric at the University of Texas. She then taught briefly at West Virginia University and the University of Illinois (Chicago) before taking the position as Director of Composition at Clemson, where she remained for thirteen years. Beth finally "came home" to Georgia in 2004, where she became Director of Composition and Director of General Education at Kennesaw State University. She retired in 2015 and busied herself by tutoring a recent immigrant, and running a book club at a women's shelter.

At every place where Beth studied or taught, she made lifelong friends with people who shared her love of scholarship. One of those colleagues noted, "thousands of college students are better thinkers and writers because of Beth's teaching and her leadership of composition and rhetoric programs." Another colleague shared that in addition to being an effective administrator, she was a compassionate, yet demanding teacher and mentor. During her academic career, she was a frequent speaker at the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) and authored numerous articles on literacy and writing. In 2003, she published A Communion of Friendship: Literacy, Spiritual Practice, and Women in Recovery, exploring how a community of women in Al-Anon used literacy as part of their spiritual practice.

Beth is survived by her sisters, Bonnie Rackley (Jud) of Valdosta, and Lee Nichols (Mike) of Decatur; three nephews, Dan Rackley (Jen), Bryan Rackley (Jada West), and Pete Nichols; two nieces Maggie Nichols (Tim) and Nancy Nichols. The nieces and nephews knew to expect books for every Christmas and birthday. In addition, four great nieces, two great nephews, and many very dear first cousins (who share her love of a good party) survive her.

A memorial service to celebrate Beth's life will be held on August 31, at 10:00 AM, at North Decatur Presbyterian Church at 611 Medlock Rd. A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall. The service will be live streamed on the church website: NDPC.org and on the church's Facebook Page.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Global Village Project:

https://globalvillageproject.networkforgood.com/projects/47855-donate-to-global-village-project, or by mail at PO Box 1548, Decatur, GA 30031.