In his mid 30's, Dan decided, bravely, to take on some new things. Life had bumped him around a bit, and instead of turning, inwardly, towards destruction or damage, he instead re-engineered his life towards creating and rebuilding.

He wrote some short stories with the intention of making them into a graphic novel, and got interested in volunteer work. Heavily. Affected by the devastation and lost lives of Hurricane Katrina in the Southeast, he left his home in the Detroit area (where he had been born and raised) and went down to do his part. He got in with an excellent volunteer organization called Americorps, which allowed him to be involved, hands-on, with helping to clear out debris, rebuild spaces, and help an area so hard hit by natural disaster.

Throughout 2006's first half, he posted photos of himself getting banged up, bruised, dirty... and making a difference. His writings, once about inward-facing depression and anger, were nothing but week after week of witty and bright postcards from his work, accompanied with photographs of himself in hazmat suits, carrying tools, and fixing lives.

On May 28th, off-duty and hanging out late in the evening, Dan was out with a friend at Bay St. Louis in Mississippi. One moment he was having a good time, relaxing after another hard week of volunteering, and another he was pulled under the water by a riptide. His friend heard him shout for help, but he was gone.

A search was mounted by the coast guard to find him, and 24 hours later his body was found, floating, some ways away from where he had disappeared.

It's easy to second-guess Dan and decide what he should have done and when, but the fact remains that Dan died while doing something he'd loved, and while loving others, giving them his time which he didn't know he had so little of. Friends he'd made around the country had seen him recently, talked to him on the phone, e-mailed him, and he knew he had a world and a community around him, that cared about him.

Dan knew that life could end at any moment. When his own end came, it was in the mid-swing of a rebirth, re-imagining, and re-fashioning, and joyously dancing out in the water.

That's what's happened.

	
  Service Groups Mourn the Loss of West Seneca AmeriCorps Member

  The body of Dan Kivel, 34, an AmeriCorps Hurricane Katrina relief member who dedicated his life
  to serving others, was found off the coast of Biloxi by authorities at 6 p.m. on Monday, a day
  after Kivel was reported missing after being swept from the gulf shore by a rip current.

  Biloxi, MS (PRWEB) May 31, 2006 -- It is with great sorrow that the West Seneca Youth Bureau,
  the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service and Hands On Network announce the death of
  West Seneca, N.Y. AmeriCorps member, Dan Kivel.

  The body of Kivel, 34, a Hurricane Katrina relief volunteer who dedicated his life to serving
  others, was found off the coast of Biloxi by authorities at 6 p.m. on Monday, a day after Kivel
  was reported missing after being swept from the gulf shore by a rip current.

  Kivel had been wading in the water with a friend Sunday evening when the seaward current
  dragged the pair from shallow water. The friend managed to swim back to shore, but Kivel
  struggled in vain to stay afloat before help could arrive. Kivel was missing for nearly 24
  hours before his body was found on Monday.

  “Our hearts go out to Dan’s family, friends and fellow team members,” said Mark Lazzara, 
  Executive Director, West Seneca Youth Bureau. “Dan’s hard work, strength and joy provided
  the backbone of our Gulf team.”

  A Detroit native, Kivel was a member of the West Seneca AmeriCorps Gulf Coast Recovery team
  that had been doing hurricane reconstruction work in Bay St. Louis since early May. Having
  previously served in the Gulf with the Red Cross, Kivel brought experience and leadership to
  the hundreds of other AmeriCorps teams and Hands On volunteers working to gut homes, rebuild
  playgrounds and connect local citizens with their loved ones in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
  Kivel, whose AmeriCorps term was due to end in July, was an invaluable member of the AmeriCorps
  team and was greatly admired by those he worked with. His passion, heart and unrelenting will
  to serve others touched and inspired everyone who knew him.    

  “Mississippi is blessed to have received so much from committed, dedicated people like Dan
  Kivel,” said Marsha Meeks Kelly, Executive Director, the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer
  Service. “Over the coming days, we will continue to honor his memory by remembering the passion
  and caring nature that brought him here to rebuild the Gulf Coast, and by recommitting our own
  lives to service.”

  About West Seneca Youth Bureau
  The West Seneca Youth Bureau is an organization committed to developing the potential of youth,
  promoting community service and volunteerism, supporting families and improving the Western
  New York Community. West Seneca AmeriCorps has been a program of West Seneca Youth Bureau since 1994.

  About AmeriCorps
  AmeriCorps is a network of local, state and national service programs that connects more than
  70,000 Americans each year in intensive service to meet our country’s critical needs in education,
  public safety, health and the environment. AmeriCorps members serve with more than 3,000 nonprofits,
  public agencies and faith-based and community organizations. Since 1994, more than 400,000 men
  and women have provided needed assistance to millions of Americans across the nation through
  their AmeriCorps service.

  For further info: Call Mark Lazzara, 716-913-7575

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Last Updated: May 30th, 2006 - 15:21:34
     
    
    


    
     

      

       

        AmeriCorps volunteer drowns


        By DWAYNE BREMER

        May 31, 2006, 15:03


       
       
       

       
               
       
      
     
     
     
          


      

      
Americorps volunteers mourn as their fallen colleague is brought out of the water on Monday afternoon. -Echo staff photo by Dwayne Bremer
     
   

A tragic set of events unfolded late Sunday evening and continued throughout the day Monday, as rescue workers and volunteers frantically searched for a missing AmeriCorps volunteer, who was last seen wading into the water near St. Charles Street.

Late Monday evening, the worst fears of friends and rescue workers were realized, as the body of Dan Kivel, 34, was found in the water across from 914 South Beach Blv.

According to Bay St. Louis Police Investigator Don Watson, Kivel apparently went wading into the water with a friend around 8 p.m. Sunday evening. The two went out about 30 yards shy of the deep water poles and hit a "deep pocket", Watson said. 

The other man with Kivel told Watson the current was so strong he could hardly move, and he had to swim to a nearby sand bar. Kivel was not seen again. 


Police were quickly notified and a search of the entire area began.

A sign located less than 50 yards from the location warns people not to enter the water because of storm debris.

Fearing Kivel was lost, fellow AmeriCorps volunteers erected a makeshift memorial on the beach-front later in the evening.

All day Monday, members of the Department of Marine Resources (DMR) and the Coast Guard searched the beach front with no luck. Rescue divers were also called in, but storm debris in the water hampered diving efforts.

Monday afternoon at 5:45 p.m. Kivel's body was spotted by a person walking on the beach. He was identified a short time later.

"His body rolled back in with the tide," Watson said. 

An autopsy was performed Tuesday morning and Hancock County Coroner Norma Stiglett said the death was officially ruled a drowning.

Kivel was helping in the recovery efforts in Hancock County. He was from Detroit Mi. and was staying at St. Rose De Lima Church. He arrived in Bay St. Louis the first week of May and was going to be here until July.

People who knew him describe him as a hard-working and selfless person.


"Dan was a wonderful human being," Father Sebastian Myladiyil said. "This is a great loss, not only for his family and Americorps, but for all of us too."

Myladiyil said Kivel was a team leader and he was part of an older group of volunteers which had come to help locals rebuild.

"He was good with his hands and good with tools," Myladiyil said. "There is nothing we would not do to help people."

A statement from the Corporation for National and Community Service said, " we are saddened to learn about the tragic accident that took the life of AmeriCorps member Dan Kivel. Dan touched the lives of many people through his service to the country in AmeriCorps. His death is a great loss and we offer our condolences to his family and friends."
     

   
   
   
     
© 2005 Bay St. Louis Newspapers, Inc.