Stephen S. Danetz

July 15, 1941 – June 28, 2026

Stephen Samuel Danetz of Boca Raton, FL and Lenox, MA, died on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at home. Steve was born on July 15, 1941, in Mount Vernon, NY to Louis and Sylvia (Cotton) Danetz. Steve was eventually sandwiched between sister Anne and brother Robert as the middle child. Progressing through Davis High School in three years, Steve joined our class as a freshman living in Lawrence Hall as a roommate to R.E. Doggy and W.A. Feuchtwanger.

He and Feuchwanger were joined by B.D. Willis for the next three years in Pierson College. There Steve contributed to the college’s touch football and hockey teams while pursuing an Economics degree. He was also active in and with Hillel, for which he served as College Coordinator for the annual Yale Jewish Appeal. Steve also served Dwight Hall as a classroom aide at the Winchester School in his junior year.

Steve’s eventual goal was to become a hospital administrator after earning a Master’s from Columbia University, but Steve’s acceptance by Yale Law School changed those plans. Upon receiving his LL.D. he married Ellen Willner that following August and moved to New York where he practiced as an attorney in Forest Hills. Steve also did some real estate management and even had his fingers in fast foods operations. In 1971 they moved to Teaneck, NJ. In the Yale 1962 25th Reunion Book he commented that “after 25 years, every once in a while I still wonder what I will do when I grow up.“ 15 years later he wrote, “Perhaps what I meant then, and still feel now, is a question of what the future will bring and how I will react.” In the 50th 1962 Class Year Book he continued: “…I guess I didn’t grow up. So now I am trying to decide what to do with the next phase of my life.”

One of the things they did was to move into Manhattan, New York City in 2001, and later to Boca Raton, FL. Another was to purchase a summer home in Lenox, MA after the sale of his wife’s family summer home on Lake Mahopac, NY where Steve and Ellen had held their wedding. Early in his life, he attended both jazz concerts at Music Barn and afternoon concerts at Tanglewood, fond memories that drew them to the Berkshires.

This complements the obituary his family that stated “Stephen had a dry wit, a sharp intellect, and was a mensch.” It went on: “he loved to take care of his family – whether his wife, his children, or his siblings. He was interested in world events, loved to travel and play golf, was an avid reader, and could dance up a storm. In his prime, he could often be found manning the grill or driving the motorboat at Lake Mahopac, pulling any number of children or adults on water skis.”

Steve and Ellen produced two children: Mark (1967), Lisa (1970, Y’92). They, in turn, provided him with five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, all of whom, along with Ellen, have survived him; his parents and sister Anne did not.

Funeral services for Steve were held on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at Flynn Dagnoli-Bencivenga Chapels, Pittsfield, MA. Burial will be held at Beth El Mausoleum in Boca Raton, FL, where he retired.

— John D. Hatch III