Dan May

There's no way to honor Dan May without talking about two things:

1. His love for his amazing wife, Radona (who passed away in May 2022), and his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids.
2. His love, impact, leadership, and investment in Young Life and the church.

Dan had an incredible influence over the mission of Young Life. To say he was on the ground floor of Young Life's beginnings in the United States would be an understatement; in fact, much of the work in the Western U.S. rests on the shoulders of Dan and other faithful pioneers. He grew up in Oregon, where he was a club kid of Bob Mitchell, one of Young Life’s pioneers and a future president. Dan came to these early clubs with his sister and two of his friends.

After college, he moved to Idaho where he pastored a local church; meanwhile he and his wife started a family, raising three children. Sadly, the marriage ended in divorce. Dan moved to Minnesota with his children and began working for Republic Airlines, and soon reconnected with the mission of Young Life. He was a great supporter of the local area and of Castaway Club, Young Life’s camp in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

At Republic Air, he worked his way up from the Accounting department, to vice president of Finance, to CFO to CEO and president, and finally, chairman of the board. He accomplished all this while earning his law degree and CPA, and raising his children as a single father. During this time, his sister, Marie, introduced him to Radona. The two dated and were married within three months, moving to San Diego where his involvement in Young Life only grew. Dan was involved in the local and regional committees and served on Young Life’s National Board of Trustees for 20 years. He also helped create the Young Life Foundation.

Responsible for introducing Young Life College ministry, not only to San Diego, but to the West Coast, Dan and Radona helped start the work at many colleges in the region. These include San Diego State, University of California San Diego, Point Loma, University of San Diego, California State University San Marcos, and countless others on the west coast.

Dan was also primarily responsible for the acquisition and development of Oakbridge, Young Life’s former middle school camp in Ramona, California.

Dan and Radona gave millions to the ministry of Young Life and their local churches, but it's their touch, humanity, person, and character that shone even brighter to the people they walked alongside. Dan was a Young Life leader to Young Life staff! Never about the spotlight or accolades of any kind, Dan just humbly and quietly served, supported, and made a huge difference in the lives of millions of people. Most people are unaware of all this, except for the staff people he walked with during challenging life seasons like divorce, etc. Dan was quick to ask to pray every time he was with someone.

A few final memories:

• In the last years of their life, Dan and Radona drove their friends from La Costa Glen to church every Sunday. Dan led his 85-year-old friend to Christ in the car on the way back from church one Sunday. That's what a Young Life leader does. It was in his blood. He was relational until the very last days of his life.
• Many times we met Radona and Dan at Panera Bread for a committee meeting. They would split their tuna fish sandwich, sit around a table with a bunch of folks 40 years their juniors, and talk about how to reach more kids for Christ on college campuses.

Dan will be missed, not only because of his significant impact in the mission of Young Life, but in countless people's lives, from staff to committee members to kids.

Kids who’ll never know all the work Dan did behind the scenes.

And Dan would be just fine with that.