COLLEGE TRUSTEE DANIEL CONOYER DIES;
WAS LONGEST-SERVING MEMBER OF SCC GOVERNING BOARD

Dr. Daniel J. Conoyer, 65, a retired St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley professor and a member of the St. Charles Community College (SCC) Board of Trustees since the college was first established, died on Monday, Dec. 17, following a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a lifelong resident of St. Charles County.

Dr. Conoyer, of St. Peters, was elected to the original six-member governing board when voters established St. Charles Community College in 1986.  Still on the Board of Trustees at the time of his death, he was the longest-serving trustee, having been re-elected three times to six-year terms. He held the board’s highest office three times and was instrumental in hiring both of the college’s presidents over the last 21 years – Dr. Donald Shook followed by Dr. John McGuire.

Dr. Conoyer received the highest honor bestowed by the college when the St. Charles Community College board named the new Social Sciences Building after him in October 2006.

“Dan Conoyer has been an insightful and caring leader throughout the college’s history. He has been a strong steward and advocate for SCC. The college community is saddened by his death, and we will miss him as a friend, a colleague, and an outstanding board member,” President McGuire said.

McGuire praised Dr. Conoyer’s board leadership, especially during years of difficult budget times and over all of the continuing phases of campus construction and growth. “Through careful financial oversight, policy development, and prudent planning, he has helped to build SCC into the exemplary institution it is today. His focus was always to help students succeed and to ensure that the college was responsive and accountable to our community.”

Dr. Conoyer received elementary and secondary education at St. Charles Borromeo and  Duchesne High School. In 1964 he received an undergraduate degree from St. Louis University in geography and was a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon Geography Fraternity. He received a master’s degree in geography and a Ph.D. in American studies in 1972 from St. Louis University. 

Dr. Conoyer began his 41-year teaching career as a junior and senior high school Geography and Social Studies teacher in the St. Charles County Orchard Farm School District (R-V) from 1964 through 1968.  He joined the faculty at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley in September 1968 and retired in 2000, although he remained as adjunct faculty member through December 2005.

Dr. Conoyer was revered for his common-sense approach to problem solving and for his keen understanding of issues affecting students as well as faculty and staff, said Tim Lohmar, current president of the St. Charles Community College Board of Trustees. “When we needed a calm head and a thoughtful opinion on an issue, board members turned to Dan for his wisdom and expertise. His sense of humor and his historical perspective of the college often helped steer us in the right direction. He was a mentor and a friend.”

Dr. Conoyer had a keen interest in the outdoors and things mechanical as a land surveyor, working 35 years, between 1960 and 1995, for four companies: Zavrodino, Maran, Topos, and Lundan. He also served on the St. Charles City Council, Ward Two, from August 1978 through April 1983.

He was preceded in death by his father, the late Professor John W. Conoyer, and by his mother, the late Hilda Iffrig Conoyer, He is survived by his widow, Debra (Lund Gianini); three children, Daniel Conoyer of St. Peters, Julia (Valencia) of University City, Mary (Fleri) of St. Charles; three step-children, Michelle Konakci of Arnold, Jennifer Lloyd of St. Charles, and David John Gianini of St. Charles; 6 grandchildren; 8 step-grandchildren; an older sister, Rev. Judith A. Conoyer, Ph.D., and a younger brother, J. Michael Conoyer, M.D., of St. Charles;  two nephews, Dr. Mathew Conoyer and Ben Conoyer; a niece, Judy Bronson; and two nephews, Michael Conoyer and James Conoyer . 

Dr. Conoyer donated his remains to St. Louis University Medical School. A memorial Mass will be held at 1 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28, at All Saints Catholic Church, St. Peters, Mo.  Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Charles Community College Foundation, Duchesne High School, or the American Cancer Society.

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