On the 8th of May, Daniel David Potter, widely known as Laz, left this mortal plane.
After years of struggling with a body that was nearly always a hindrance to his dreams and wishes, he is now free from its bonds.
Daniel David Potter was born on March 12, 1966, to Daniel Dean and Toleta Jean Potter.
Lazarus was the firstborn son of three boys, brothers Robert Merritt Potter and Joseph Lee Potter. He was born when he created the BulletinBoardSystem, which was named the 64th Dimension. A precursor to E-mail, it connected people through the landline via a modem.
Text messages were sent to one or more of the shared users, usually under "handles," and stored on the powerful 5.25-inch floppy drive attached to his Commodore 64 computer.
He chose the handle Lazarus Long, a character from the books of Robert Heinlein.
In education, math and technical thinking came easily to him. He was able to quickly solve cumbersome problems with grace.
His frustration with his body led him to push further with his mind. An animated storyteller and visionary thinker, he shined the brightest in those moments.
As a senior at Ruskin High School, he created a Tesla Coil for his science fair project.
After winning it and placing among the highest at the Greater Kansas City Science Fair, he won a full-ride scholarship to the University of Missouri-Columbia. However, the program's social freedoms and rigorous challenges kept him from attaining a Bachelor's Degree.
His first tech job was at Resume Expert Systems, where he worked for years. After finding the limiting nature of working in a narrow focus for a company tedious, he found freedom in self-employment. He eventually formed The Lazarus Group on June 17, 2003.
Working in a 2-room office at 1814 Westport Rd, The Lazarus Group, solved problems.
Laz joined the Clinton-Gore campaign and found a great love of political engagement and work for improving the community. His expansive range of friends came from all walks of life. He had solutions for everyone.
Laz enjoyed his work, but he also loved being with friends and sharing fun times. He was known for his fabulous parties.
We will be planning a celebration of life in his honor, hopefully in the fall.
We will be reaching out to his vast group of friends and loved ones for support in this endeavor.
In lieu of flowers, please donate at that time to help us send off a truly beautiful person in style.
