Daniel M. Waterman, husband, father, Holocaust survivor, salesman and proud Dutchman, died at his home in Middleborough, Mass. on Oct. 27 of kidney disease.

Born on January 13, 1928 in Loosdrecht, a farming village in North Holland, he was youngest of Barend and Henriette Waterman's five children. Maurits, as he was known then, attended the Kees Boeke Werkplaats, a progressive school that emphasized creativity. When he was 12, the Nazis invaded Holland and he went into hiding, living with a family far from his home.

After the war, he came to America, changing his name to Daniel and settling in Massachusetts with his wife, Rita. They moved from Plymouth to Weymouth and Dan spent three decades working for Encyclopedia Britannica. He rose to become manager of the company's Hartford division in the mid-1980s, then ran the Boston regional office in the early 1990s. When the internet killed the encyclopedia business, Dan reinvented himself as a web entrepreneur, launching a successful online store, All Things Dutch, that specializes in food and gifts from his homeland.

Dan was an extremely hard worker and a skilled salesman whose high-octane personality charmed everyone he met. He was a talented gardener, a fan of Jeopardy! and a voracious consumer of news. He also loved the Cape, family photographs, art museums, cribbage and dessert, especially cookies, candy and licorice from Holland. He always appreciated beautiful things and collected Japanese pottery, vintage postcards and prints.

In addition to his wife, he leaves his daughter Daniela Altimari and son-in-law Dave Altimari of West Hartford, Conn., and his daughter Miriam Whippen and son-in-law Tom Whippen of Kingston, Mass., and his beloved granddaughters, Sophia and Natalia Altimari. He will also be missed by a large extended family in Holland, Canada, Israel, Chicago, Australia and California. He was predeceased by all of his siblings: Mirjam, Ellie, Dick and Chaja. A memorial service will be held in the spring.

Donations in Dan's memory can be made to Jewish Family and Children's Services of Boston, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington or the Wadsworth Museum of Art in Hartford.

He lived a big life on his own terms and his absence leaves a big gulf in ours.

Dan's family would like to thank the nurses and volunteers at South Shore Hospice for their compassion