Obituary: Dan E. Huss
Dan E. Huss, the best husband, father, grandpa and papaw, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026, surrounded by family who loved him.
Dan was born on Jan. 5, 1940, and was preceded in death by his parents, Max Huss and Lorine Kraus Huss, and his older brother Jerry Maxwell Huss.
Dan grew up picking apples on the family farm in Peach Grove – a farm which has been in the family for over 150 years. He graduated from Colerain High School in 1957, where he was a member of the basketball team, prom king, president of the C Club and the senior class, played saxophone in the marching band and performed in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.
In 1961, Dan graduated summa cum laude from Miami University and began working with his dad and his brother at their Nationwide Insurance office, – work he continued while putting himself through the Salmon P. Chase School of Law in Cincinnati. He went on to join the practice of R. Fred Woodruff in Oxford and continued as a solo practitioner until he retired in June 2023. He exemplified everything a good attorney should be – he was fair, honest and filled with integrity – and he was famous for knowing where every document could be found in the giant stacks of folders behind his desk. He intentionally kept his fees affordable so that local farmers in the Oxford area felt comfortable coming to his office.
After a chance meeting with a professor at a Miami football game, Dan started teaching finance at Miami University, and he became assistant chair of the business law department, where he influenced many aspiring law students. He was also the first faculty advisor for the new hockey team. A fixture in Oxford and at many Miami events, he continued to be recognized by former students well after his retirement from Miami in 1991.
Dan met Martha “Marti” Smith on a blind date in 1963, when they were each tricked by Dan’s Nationwide Insurance manager into thinking the other wanted to attend the Princeton-Colerain football game. Dan had law school that night and had to miss the game, but met Marti after his class at the social hour after the game. That “first date” has led to a lifetime of laughs.
Dan and Marti were married in June of 1966. Kelly Marie was born in 1967, John Andrew in 1969, and Katherine Elizabeth in 1984. Dan was the best dad and grandfather, coaching his children in sports, attending every game and concert, playing endless rounds of Parcheesi, collecting the valuable real estate in Monopoly and “shooting the moon” in the card game hearts.
He loved to travel, and over the years, the Huss family took many trips, which invariably led to stories about a broken down van and all of them crowding into front seat of the wrecker in Alabama, getting stuck in the mud in New Mexico, camping in the rest area in New Jersey and taking an overnight ride in the backseat of a taxi from Chicago to Indianapolis to make it back for a morning appointment with clients. He also enjoyed reading his Bible, halfway completing crossword puzzles in the morning paper, riding around the orchard on his tractor and telling stories over and over again in great detail.
One of Dan’s passions was Miami sports! He started attending Miami football games before he was 10 years old (he was upset that his father wouldn't take him to the Miami vs. UC Battle for the Victory Bell during a blizzard in 1950). After that, he never missed that rivalry game. Dan held season tickets for Miami football games for more than 50 years, and rarely missed a home game, no matter the weather. He used the Miami away schedule as part of the itinerary for family trips, including visits to Northwestern, Iowa and even Hawaii. He loved talking sports and could cite statistics and replay the smallest detail of any game. Dan would go on to become a courtside fixture at Miami basketball games, and with his wife and daughters was able to see the 2025-26 undefeated regular season, capped off by a victory in the First Four game in Dayton in March 2026.
Baptized into the Lutheran faith, Dan was deeply religious. He became a longtime member of Christ Lutheran Church on Compton Road and served as President of the Federation of Lutheran Churches in Cincinnati for many years. He helped organize countless church softball teams until he was 74 years old, where he shared the field with three generations. He shared his faith with his family and with all those around him, including the nurses during his hospital stays, telling his family that “God isn’t done with me yet!” He was so proud when his son John became a Lutheran pastor, and also when three of his grandchildren would go on to work in the ministry. In 2019, Dan was awarded the Christus Vivit Award at the Concordia Seminary in St. Louis for exemplary service to the church.
By far his greatest legacy is the family he loved so deeply. Dan is survived by his wife of 60 years, Martha “Marti,” his daughter Kelly Fries (Carl), his son John Huss (Paula) and his daughter Kathy Noland (Joshua).
He leaves behind ten grandchildren: Bryan Fries (Hillary), Jonathan Fries (Brittany), Lorine Carlson (Erik), Anthony Fries (Abigail), Max Huss (Ashley), Gina Huss, Drew Huss, JJ Noland, Sam Noland and Ellie Noland; and 11 great-grandchildren: Caroline, Judah, Lillian, Felicity, Oaklen, Ophelia, Tallulah, Caleb and Eliza Fries, Everett Carlson and Cadence Huss.
In December 2022, Dan was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, a disease that ravaged his body, but never his mind. He far outlasted the original timeline, and his family credits that to the wonderful care given to him by his team of doctors – and also because he was so stubborn. He fought until the end, withstanding 23 rounds of chemotherapy, an oxygen tank and dialysis three times a week.
Treasure hunts on Christmas mornings will never be quite the same, but the family will do their best to continue traditions first instituted by Dan: coffee cake with breakfast, wiffle ball in the yard, happy hour on the porch, hiding Easter eggs so well that they are lost forever, hayrides through the orchard, practical jokes, exasperating Marti, pickup games of softball in the ballfield and holding hands to run into the ocean. He was the best of us, and he is loved and missed beyond measure.
This obituary was originally published by Charles C. Young Funeral Home.
