Daniel Kinsley Amigone, retired health administrator, war veteran

Amigone

Daniel Kinsley Amigone, a retired health administrator and decorated Vietnam War veteran who would have been 63 on Nov. 9, died Saturday, Oct. 7, 2006, while on vacation in Aruba.

Born in Louisville, Ky., Mr. Amigone, former Amherst resident, was raised in Buffalo.

Mr. Amigone was among the first graduating class from Cardinal Dougherty High School. He obtained his bachelor's degree in history from Niagara University and a master's degree from Northern Arizona State University and Arizona State University.

Mr. Amigone practiced social work and eventually became a hospital administrator at Buffalo General Hospital. He was instrumental in setting up the hospital's Community Mental Health Care Center. He moved to Fall River, Mass. to become Superintendent of Corrigan Mental Health Center, which he led for 15 years. In addition, Mr. Amigone served as area director of mental health for the southeastern region of the state.

For the last few years before retirement, he also was an administrator at the Brockton Multi Service Center.

For the last 25 years, Mr. Amigone was a consultant for the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. In this role, he would travel the world evaluating hospitals. Mr. Amigone retired from the state several years ago and had been consulting with JCAHO until his death.

Mr. Amigone was a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War having received a Purple Heart, Silver Star, and Bronze Star. He had volunteered for Vietnam and served two tours of duty.

Upon being honorably discharged from Vietnam, he became active in the anti-war movement and spoke at several campus rallies against the war, describing what he had seen while in combat. He also participated in a war tribunal in Stockholm organized by Jean Paul Sarte and others. Upon his return he founded one of the first Vietnam Veterans Against the War organizations in Syracuse and went on to become a national leader of the group.

Mr. Amigone was an avid reader, enjoyed golfing and loved to travel. He also liked traveling, having been to every state in the country and Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Mr. Amigone was a die hard fan of the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, and Cleveland Indians. He was also involved with his local diocese, Holy Name Church in Fall River, Mass. and was a longstanding member of the Fall River Country Club.

Mr. Amigone is survived by two daughters, Jennifer of Brookline, Mass. and Carley of San Francisco, Calif.; five brothers, Paul of East Amherst, Joseph and Leo, both of Cheektowaga and James and Francis, both of Buffalo; his ex-wife, the former Elizabeth Sprong of Newton, Mass. and his girlfriend, Anne Marie Angelini of Westport, Mass.

A Mass of Christian Burial was offered Friday, Oct. 13 in St. Mark's Catholic Church, after prayers in Amigone Funeral Home.