Charles Daniel West

Charles Daniel (Dan) West was born on February 23, 1940 to Lillian Elizabeth (nee Armstrong) and Charles Warren West in Midland, Texas. He grew up in Austin where he was active in Boy Scouts ultimately earning the rank of Eagle Scout, the high school band, and The First Baptist Church of Austin. He graduated from McCallum High School in 1958 and entered The University of Texas at Austin where he graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1964. While at the university, he met Sylvia Hulsey at First Baptist Church and the Baptist Student Union. Their relationship developed over the next few years and they were married on June 19, 1965. They moved to LaMarque (Texas City), Texas where he worked for Monsanto Chemical Company. The couple moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1972 where they started their family. Leslie Claire was born in 1973 and Allison Anne in 1977.

During his 30 years at Monsanto, Dan held positions in marketing, purchasing, personnel, and government relations. He worked his last 13 years there as Director of Countertrade. In this job, he began to pursue his love of travel while working all over the world, often taking Sylvia with him. He founded the American Countertrade Association in 1986, and served as Executive Director for 10 years. When he retired from Monsanto, he founded West Trade International.

In 2003, Dan and Sylvia moved to Innsbrook, 50 miles west of St. Louis. They enjoyed planning and building their new home together. Dan used his newfound free time to volunteer as Treasurer and CFO of the Wright City Fire Protection District, Missouri Baptist University Trustee, Vice President of the Innsbrook Historical Society, and a member of the Innsbrook Architectural Review Board. When not working in his woodshop or restoring cars, Dan continued to travel the world with Sylvia. After Sylvia died in 2012, Dan decided to travel only to places he had never visited and his favorite destinations. He took each of his daughters on a trip to Antarctica, and traveled with other friends through Europe, Asia, and South America. He spent much of his last years exploring the polar regions—traveling to the arctic circle several times by land and sea. He had visited all 50 states, seven continents, and 131 countries at the time of his death. As a result of his travels, Dan met people from all over the world. Once he made a personal connection, he would find opportunities to visit someone in their hometown experiencing first-hand their city and country.

Dan is proceeded in death by his wife of 47 years, Sylvia. He is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Leslie and Jonathan Moore and Allison and Greg Campion. His grandchildren, Connor Vaughn, Claire West, and Clark Edward. He is also survived by his sister, Nancy Moore, and brother, Robert (Bob) West, and their families.

A celebration of life will be held at Kirkwood Baptist Church in St. Louis, Missouri on February 27th at 3:00 p.m. A funeral and burial will be at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks in Pflugerville, Texas on March 2nd at 10:00 a.m.

If you so desire, donations can be made to the Boy Scouts of America, Capital Area Council (www.aplacetogive.scouting.org) or The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (www.firehero.org).