Yesterday i read on Mark Staffords flickr photostream:
Daniel Krentz, retired LEGO designer passed away at the weekend.
That is sad news, because Daniel was not only lego designer who
brought us classic sets like Yellow Castle, but he was probably first Adult Fan of Lego.
Daniel was born and raised in the USA in 1937 living in Colorado and Chicago, he discovered LEGO bricks while at college in the 1960’s. He bought as many brick packs as he could afford on his salary and soon his fan creations came to the attention of LEGO’s US distributor at the time (Samsonite) who began using them as display models to increase sales. Soon after they showed off his MOCs to visiting LEGO reps he was recruited to be a designer in Billund Denmark. He was both the first AFOL and the first non-Dane hired to be a designer by the company. He started work as a designer in the mid 1970’s and continued until the year 2000. In Denmark he fell in love and married his wife who passed in the 1990’s, attended church every Sunday and lived a quiet peaceful life in Billund building with LEGO bricks every single day.
Daniel was the designer of many LEGO sets in his time but among his most iconic sets are:
375 Classic Yellow Castle (and all the castle sets that launched with it)And dozens upon dozens of others.
His funeral is on Tuesday 21st.
If his work or life had a positive impact on yours we will make sure his family gets any messages you would like to leave.
After retiring Daniel has kept his interests in LEGO. I have meet him during last Fan Weekend, unfortunately we did not talk long enough. Daniel had inspired so many builders with his creations… He will be missed.
There has been article about him in 3rd issue of Bricks Culture by Are J Heiseldal. If you cannot get the paper issue, you can read article on Are’s flickr stream.