Dr. Daniel "Dan" Colunga

Dan was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas and loved telling his grandchildren stories of his childhood “down in the Valley.” The third-born in a family of eight children, he loved to spice up conversations with a steady stream of hilarious one-liners and puns even from his earliest days. When he was in his twenties, his charismatic personality helped him catch the attention of fellow student Stephanie Swafford while on a group mission trip to Mexico. The two became engaged only two weeks after meeting each other. Together, they celebrated the arrival of their two children—Kim and Craig—and enjoyed a marriage of fifty-seven years.

Education was always a driving factor in Dan’s life. As a first-generation student, Dan worked his way through college with odd jobs as a lifeguard and as a janitor for a local church, earning a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1960. He quickly followed this up with a master’s and a PhD degree in Engineering Mechanics from the same institution while improving his language proficiency in Russian and French (adding to his knowledge of English and Spanish). Due to his expertise in engineering and the emerging field of computer science, Dan was then employed by NASA and worked with such projects as simulation studies for the flight guidance software system of the Apollo mission and developing techniques for shuttle reentry trajectories.

After his time at NASA—in an ironic twist of fate that his family always teased him about—he found himself changing career paths and teaching computer science as an Associate Professor at his “rival” school: Texas A&M University. During this period, he worked as an advisor for both undergraduate and graduate students and served as a chairman for the National Research Council’s Graduate Minority Scholarships in Engineering. He also lectured internationally and was a member of several engineering and academic honors organizations, such as Upsilon Pi Epsilon, the American Institute of Industrial Engineers, and Tau Beta Phi. He retired from teaching in 2000 with letters of thanks from students all over the world.

Although he did not become a Christian until his late thirties, Dan pursued his faith in Jesus with the same intellectual curiosity that defined his academic success, convinced by the overwhelming evidence he saw demonstrated in both scriptural/ historic sources and the changes he had experienced in his personal life. He served in prison ministries locally and added to his interests in theology with hobbies in cooking, guitar playing, and swimming.

Dr. Daniel Colunga is preceded in death by his wife Stephanie (Swafford) Colunga, his parents Jose “Joe” Colunga Jr. and Margaret (Harrison) Colunga, his brother Alfred Colunga, his brother David Colunga and sister-in-law Velia Colunga, his sister Gloria (Colunga) Farroba and brothers-in-law John L. Farroba and William Freisinger. He is survived by his daughter Kim (Colunga) Chavarria and her husband Louis “Mike” Chavarria, his son Daniel Craig Colunga and his wife Julie (Clark) Colunga; five grandchildren Hannah, Naomi, Daniel, Elizabeth, and David Chavarria; brothers Gilbert Colunga, Joe Colunga III and his wife Judy Colunga, sister Margaret (Colunga) Friesinger, brother Lorenzo Colunga and his wife Jonna (Willis) Colunga, brother-in-law William E. Swafford and his wife Mary Ann (Wisar) Swafford; nephews Joe Gilbert Colunga, Joe David Colunga, James Colunga, John Colunga, John Manuel Farroba, Erik Freisinger, Stephen Colunga, Joe Colunga IV, Dennis Colunga; nieces Sonia Villareal, Christy Colunga, Katherine D. Farroba, Suzette (Farroba) Deckert, Ava Jana (Farroba) Flores; Judi Adams, Karyn (Freisinger) Givens, Lora (Freisinger) Moore, Regina (Colunga) Blackmore, Kristan Swafford, Rochelle Swafford Carnes.

The Family of “Dr. Dan” would like to thank all the love and care given to him by the medical and caregiving staff of the Brazos Valley. Your “extra mile” patience, help and service to our family was a true blessing.

Visitation for Dr. Colunga will begin at 11 am, Monday, September 12, 2022 with funeral services immediately following at 1 pm at the Memorial Funeral Chapel College Station. Committal will follow at the Aggie Field of Honor.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, donations can be sent to College Heights Assembly of God Church in Bryan, Texas, the Library of Congress’ NLS FB&PD program or the Texas State Library and Archives Commission’s Texas Talking Books Program “That All May Read”.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.memorialfuneralchapel.com for the Colunga family.