Rev. Thomas Charles Danney, of Newburgh, died August 5, 2017 at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla with his family by his side. The cause was complications from a recent heart attack. He was 73.
Rev. Danney was the longtime pastor of the First Reformed Church of Nyack, where he served from 1989 to 2011, and a longtime leader in interfaith activities and organizations. He officiated at ecumenical Easter sunrise services at Nyack Beach State Park.
He was a founding member of the Nyack Interfaith Clergy Association of Nyack since 1995, where he worked to establish closer ties among different faiths as well as among various Christian denominations. Rev. Danney was also on the Board of Directors of the Rockland County YMCA. He served as the Regional Area Synod Minister of the Reformed Church of America since 2011, and as interim pastor at the First Reformed Churches of Hawthorne and Hastings-on-Hudson. At the time of his death, he was beginning an interim pastorship at the Wallkill Reformed Church.
Rev. Danney was born March 25, 1944 in Buffalo, the son of the late Charles and Lorraine Moehrle Danney. Following graduation from Houghton College, he received a masters degree in social work from Fordham University. While working with at-risk youth in New York City and attending Elmendorf Reformed Church in Harlem in the 1970’s. Tom realized his religious vocation when the congregation “called him out” to enter the ministry. He completed his master of divinity degree at The New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. Prior to his tenure in Nyack, he served for eight years as minister at the Bergen Point Community Church in Bayonne, NJ.
Rev. Danney ministered to a broad range of community members in varied settings throughout the region. He was known for his humility and kindness to all, no matter their title or station in life. The message he preached was the life he lived.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Marcia Westra, of Newburgh; a son, Micah, of Brooklyn; a daughter, Rev. Marissa Danney, of Fairfax, CA; three sisters, Linda Britton of Rockledge, FL; Kathryn Kenny of Saugerties, and Martha Daniels of Canandaigua, and nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at the Reformed Church of the Tarrytowns, 42 North Broadway, Tarrytown on Sunday, August 13, at 2 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to The Fellowship of Reconciliation, 521 N. Broadway, Nyack, NY 10960.