Dayton Dangel

Dayton’s Journey: From Cancer to Compassion

When you trace the story of the Lutheran Mission Society San Diego back to its beginnings, you find Dayton Dangel’s footprints in the soil. As a boy, Dayton belonged to two congregations that carry deep meaning in our history: Holy Cross Lutheran Church—the congregation that gave birth to the Mission Society—and Peace Lutheran Church, the congregation into which Holy Cross eventually merged. Dayton’s childhood faith was shaped in the pews, classrooms, and fellowship halls of those churches. He may not have known it then, but God was already writing his life into the larger story of mission in San Diego.

Like many young men, Dayton eventually drifted away from the church. Dayton grew tired of the rules of Christianity. He didn’t want to follow the law, nor did he want to apologize for breaking it. So he left. What followed was not a brief separation, but a long, many-years drift. He built a life around work and independence, determined to live on his own terms, away from the obligations of faith. He rose as a respected manager in a local car company, earning the trust of his colleagues.

Years passed, and life pressed in ways Dayton hadn’t anticipated. The birth of his daughter, fragile and vulnerable with serious health challenges, shook him deeply. Questions he had long avoided came crashing back: What is life really about? Work? Career? Or something more? He explored other spiritual paths, seeking meaning in places that never satisfied.

Then came January 2001. Dayton and his wife, Maria, decided to give Christianity—and the church—a chance again. Maria, in particular, wanted their children to grow up with faith. Together, they visited churches across Valley Center. They avoided familiar paths: neither Maria’s Catholic roots nor Dayton’s LCMS childhood. Several congregations were visited, but none felt like home. Finally, they stepped into Light of the Valley Lutheran Church. The sign outside bore a logo Dayton did not recognize, so he assumed it was not LCMS. Inside, the pastor and his family greeted them warmly. Almost immediately, Dayton and Maria felt at home. Later, they would joke about God’s sense of humor when they discovered the LCMS had simply updated its logo. The church that welcomed them so fully was, in fact, the same confession Dayton had once walked away from.

Those years at Light of the Valley became a season of blessing and growth. Dayton’s faith was rekindled, and he began to serve and lead in small ways. He began sharing Scripture with coworkers, leading a Bible study at his workplace, and quietly planting seeds of ministry outside the church walls. God’s call to formal ministry grew louder. Dayton considered seminary, but ultimately chose the Pacific Southwest District’s Lay Ministry Program, where he trained to become a deacon. He completed the program, became a licensed deacon, and later received Stephen Ministry training, equipping him to care for people in deep need.

Eventually, seeking a stronger children and youth program for their family, the Dangels transferred to Community Lutheran Church in Escondido. Maria joined the staff as ministry coordinator, and Dayton continued serving faithfully, building on the foundation of leadership and care cultivated at Light of the Valley. Under pastor Bill Vogelsang first and Pastors Bob Hiller and Matt Knauss now, Dayton has served in various capacities. And the witness of his life spoke louder than words at home as well. His son, watching his father’s faith and service, eventually followed in his footsteps—answering the call to pastoral ministry and now finishing seminary training to become a pastor. 

Then came the valley of illness. Dayton was diagnosed with an aggressive lymphoma—a cancer that demanded heavy, draining treatment. The regimen left him weak, and in October 2021, while his body was vulnerable, he contracted COVID. The clash of cancer treatments, COVID, and medication side effects nearly broke his body. He was in and out of hospitals for months. The first stay lasted seven weeks. After going home, he returned for three more weeks when his condition relapsed. Later came more complications. His strength diminished until he needed oxygen and a walker. He remembers one Sunday, sitting on a bench outside his church after worship, gasping for air with an oxygen tube, watching people walk by. Their faces were a mix of kind and sorrow, their hearts wanted to love him, but what words can anyone speak when a friend is so young, suffering so deeply, and so visibly frail?

The darkest moment came during his last hospital stay—a stretch of two and a half weeks that included his birthday, November 17. The doctors delivered stark news: “If anyone wants to see him, they should come now.” Maria sent a desperate prayer through the church chain: “If you are going to pray, please pray now.” Breathing failing, oxygen maxed out, every movement a struggle, Dayton experienced God’s nearness in the midst of weakness. He doesn’t remember every detail, but he remembers one thing clearly: his breathing eased. Not perfectly, not fully, but enough to hold on. An answer to prayer. A gift of life and grace.

That brush with death left its mark—not as a scar of defeat, but as a testimony of grace. From that season of weakness and suffering, Dayton emerged with a heart burning to walk alongside others who face the same valley. Out of his battle came the Cancer Support Fellowship project: a ministry of listening, prayer, and compassion for patients and families carrying the heavy weight of cancer.

Dayton knows the loneliness, the fear, the questions that linger in hospital rooms and waiting rooms: Why me? How long? What will happen to my children? He has lived them. And because he has lived them, he is uniquely equipped to look into another’s suffering and say, “You are not alone. Christ is here.”

Dayton shared the vision with his pastors and church leaders, who encouraged him to explore it. Yet the ministry had not launched; they were waiting for the right moment, for God’s clear direction and an open door.

That moment came when Dayton heard about the Lutheran Mission Society San Diego. Listening to the Society speak and invite faithful, available, teachable, and entrepreneurial leaders to step up, Dayton sensed God saying: Now is the time. Since then, he and the Mission Society have been walking together, preparing the launch of the ministry. The Cancer Support Fellowship is poised to begin soon, carrying Dayton’s compassion and experience into the lives of many, offering hope, presence, and Christ’s love in the midst of the valley.

Dayton Dangel’s life is a story of circles—childhood roots that tie back to the Mission Society, a season of drifting and returning, a career that became a mission field, family led into service, and a battle with cancer and COVID that gave birth to compassion. His story is a living testament that God never wastes our past, never abandons us in weakness, and never stops calling His people into His mission.