Wolfeboro, NH – Daniel Brand passed away at the age of eighty-eight on May 22, 2026, after a short period of decline at Taylor Assisted Living Community in Wolfeboro, NH. He was born on June 6, 1937, in Greenwich Village, NY to writer parents, Pauline Leader and Millen Brand. Dan spent his childhood moving back and forth between Bennington, VT where he had a large, close-knit extended family and Hell’s Kitchen, NYC.
Dan graduated from Bennington High School in 1954 and went to MIT where he received a B.S. (1958) and M.S. (1961) in Civil Engineering. He completed a nine-month exchange fellowship between MIT and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland where he studied German and culture, a fortuitous achievement which led to meeting his first wife, Erika Marquardt, from Berlin, Germany with whom he raised four children.
Dan was associate professor of City Planning at Harvard University, and in the early 1970s, a senior lecturer in the MIT Civil Engineering Department. Dan moved his growing family to 57 Lexington Road in Concord, MA, a classic brick-end Federal built in 1817. The “Concord house” became a welcoming gathering place for his students, friends, and family to come together for lively conversation, music, and shared meals. As a passionate antique collector of American furniture, Asian ceramics, and art, Dan filled the rooms with his procurements. He was deeply proud of his two paintings by portraitist Alice Neel, and he never tired of telling the story of their purchase and his older brother’s savvy in collecting her work.
Dan was Undersecretary of Transportation for the state of Massachusetts from 1975-1977. He worked under Fred Salvucci during the Dukakis Administration, then joined Charles River Associates in Boston, MA as vice president. For over thirty years he directed investment-grade traffic and revenue studies for toll roads, high-speed rail lines, and intercity policies throughout the United States. His work took him to China and Thailand, and in 1981 he went to Israel to consult on the bus and highway system in Jerusalem’s developing suburban areas near the Damascus Gate. He loved his work, complained about paying tolls, and triumphed if the traffic flow met his standards in the cities he drove through with his children and friends.
Semi-retired, Dan moved to Lyme, NH with his second wife, Winifred Dunn. Living so close to Dartmouth College, he engaged in the many cultural activities available to him. Having been an enthusiastic hiker in NH and Switzerland with his children when they were young, he rediscovered his love for the mountains. In 2013, Dan joined the “Granite Grannies” hiking group where he was an active participant until he could no longer walk.
Dan spent the last ten years of life with his beloved partner, Janet Adeletti, whom he traveled extensively with to sixteen countries. In the summer he made the trip from his home in Hanover, NH to the southeastern shore of Connecticut to be with her family and relax on the beach.
During his last years, Dan became deeply revitalized when he learned that Mara Mills, Director of Disability Studies at NYU, was facilitating the republication of his mother’s memoir about living with deafness, And No Birds Sing. After its publication in 2016 by Gallaudet University Press, his efforts to have Pauline’s legacy preserved led to having her papers accepted at Columbia University Archives, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and a Wikipedia page.
Dan was predeceased by his siblings, Elinor Marion, Jonathan Brand, and half-sister, Carol Brand. He is survived by his children, Anika Hastings (Brian), Taika Brand, Alex Shimada-Brand (Stephanie), and Joshua Brand, and by his grandchildren, Ani, Jackson, Carli, Diego, Elias, William, Tyler and Emily; and many cousins and friends who loved him.
Memorial donations may be made to the Society for the Protection of NH Forests and National Public Radio.
Lord Funeral Home of Wolfeboro, NH will be assisting the family with arrangements. If you wish to express a condolence or leave a fond memory please visit, www.lordfuneralhome.com.
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