Jeff supported conservative causes in our community. I called Bruce Hotze and asked if it was appropriate to publish his comments on Jeff’s passing. Bruce shared these comments about his friend and I wanted to share them with Big Jolly readers.

I was quite shocked when Jeff’s wife Anabel called me on Thursday afternoon to tell me that Jeff had died due to an infection. Jeff was undergoing a new round of chemotherapy treatments that left his immune system weakened. Paul Bettencourt visited with Jeff about 2 PM on Tuesday afternoon. By 5 PM he was in an ambulance going to the emergency room and by
6 AM on Wednesday Jeff had  succumbed to the infection.

Jeff was a good friend, he loved talk about freedom and liberty. Jeff always spoke of his goal eliminating the property tax system in this country.

We fought some great political battles together.

We had many common business experiences as we both ran privately held manufacturing businesses in Houston. We would often brag about our latest new  hi tech machinery and their tight tolerances and increased production capabilities.

And we both ran businesses with bright design engineers. Jeff was particularly proud of his bright engineers and technical people and highly skilled machinist and office support staff. He knew their personal lives and loved to praise them in my presence.

We were kindred spirits.

I will miss my friend Jeff greatly.

Bruce R. Hotze, Sr.”

This is Jeff’s obituary from the Chronicle and I wanted his family to know our community mourns his loss and they are in our prayers.

Jeffrey N. Daily went home to be with our Lord on Wednesday, the 19th of October 2016, after a courageous 15 year battle with multiple myeloma.

Mr. Daily grew up working in his family’s monument business in Akron, Ohio and majored in accounting at the University of Akron. Throughout his life he was an athlete involved in football, basketball, and wrestling. Jeff started his professional career at Prince Waterhouse in New York then went on to achieve an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1967. His appreciation for competitive athletics made him consider a career in coaching a blind football team after living at the Perkins School for the Blind. At that time he worked for Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KMPG Peat Marwick) in its Boston and Los Angeles offices, had two children, Chris and Jeffrey, from a previous marriage. He was also a Certified Public Accountant.

He then went on to found Daily Instruments Corporation, a world leading thermometry company that services and provides value to the refining, petrochemical, and aerospace industries. In 2000 Jeff patented the CatTracker® an aerospace-derived technology for precision temperature measurement. By 2010 the market increase doubled in sales as CatTracker® became the standard of the downstream refining industry.

Mr. Daily gained extensive economic knowledge through his studies but his unique approach, as a true practitioner, was the product of years of debates with college professors and economists. His active participation in international business allowed him to set his theories into practice first hand, and witness the creation of jobs and economic value. Within every tome he found some element to practice and develop, in constant conversation with its author. His quest for innovation and inventing new technologies for refining and other industries was often discussed at lunch with his engineers as the company continued to grow. Currently over 150 people work for Mr. Daily and he challenged and positively influenced each and every member of his team.

Jeffrey N. Daily has been actively involved in politics since 1996. He has served in various capacities including: President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club, Candidates Committee of Associated Republicans of Texas, Finance Chairman of Harris County Republican Party, Member of C Club of Houston, Board Member of HPRC, and was on the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Club of Southern California. He was a Houston City Council candidate in 2003, was Co-Chairman for Let the People Vote and was Co-Campaign Manager of the winning Houston Prop 2 amendment, which limits annual City revenue increases to adjustments for inflation and population growth, unless approved by a citizens’ ballot.

Throughout the years he sponsored several pro-am basketball teams, often hoping to join a few minutes with the ex-pros. Basketball was his many passions but John Wooden (head coach of UCLA) was his idol. Over the years he sponsored many basketball leagues – often playing on them alongside the semi-pro players, many who remain friends of his to this day. Most importantly he loved attending and coaching his son Neil in the many AAU basketball games.

With all his accomplishments Jeffrey Neil Daily’s legacy will be remembered and honored because of his treatment of others. He was a kind and loving man with a wonderfully witty sense of humor. Jeff always saw the potential in people he came in touch with and was a driving force towards their success. Jeffrey had a close relationship with his sister Nadine. He loved traveling the world with his beloved wife Anabel and son Neil.
Jeffrey Neil Daily is survived by his loving family, wife Anabel and son Neil, his brothers Robert and John, and his sister Nadine.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock in the afternoon until eight o’clock in the evening on Thursday, the 27th of October, in the library and grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

The funeral service is to be conducted at two o’clock in the afternoon on Friday, the 28th of October in the sanctuary of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road in Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances, memorial contributions may be directed toward the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, 383 Main Ave., 5th Floor, Norwalk, CT 06851.

Published in Houston Chronicle on Oct. 23, 2016