By Ken Mammarella
Contributing Writer

When John Danzeisen commits to improving the world at large and neighborhoods nearby, he does it for the long term. He has been an ordained elder with Lower Brandywine Presbyterian Church since 2004; volunteered with the Kennett Pike Association from 2009 to 2023, including 13 years as president; served on the American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula board from 1997 to 2007; and served on the Governor’s Commission on Community and Volunteer Service from 2005 to 2012.

He brings a global perspective to his volunteering, built on 32 years with ICI Americas, ending as chairman from 1993 until his 2002 retirement. That perspective also includes almost five years living in England, traveling the world to sell products in dozens of countries and studying global leadership at the University of Michigan for eight weeks. He also earned a bachelor’s in science in chemistry from Ursinus College, and an MBA from Widener University.

“I appreciate and admire other cultures that I have been exposed to,” he said in an interview from his Centreville home. The University of Michigan program, developed for and by large companies, also exposed him to how executives who worked in other cultures thought differently. 

“The Americans are known to be impatient,” he said. “The Asians, on the other hand, were much more deliberative. You must adapt to different cultures. You must begin to think like the people that are there and understand what motivates them.”

Although he’s been retired for two decades, those lessons about globalization still resonate. “When it comes to talking with my friends about the U.S. economy and trade, I have a greater appreciation for the importance of global trade, the impact of globalization and how this country, I think, needs to embrace some of the principles more about globalization than we do now.” Isolationism “scares me.”

Character and commitment

Separate interviews with three friends yielded a refrain about his character and commitment.

David Butler, a neighbor of the Danzeisens at the Jersey Shore, said they have spent a lot of time together at the dog park. “He has a beautiful respect for one another as humans,” Butler said, noting that they disagree on a lot of political issues. “He fosters that by being open-minded and showing a lot of grace. We can debate, and still walk away as friends. He’s really smart, analytical and worldly. He sets a fine example for others.”

“John is tall and imposing, but that doesn’t begin to describe his most important qualities,” said Kent Riegel, who as general counsel worked with him at ICI. He shines with “intellect and decency, and he’s soft-spoken, thoughtful in delivery and confident in what he does.”

Edward Nass, a ruling elder at Lower Brandywine, raised Danzeisen’s stature this way: “He’s a commanding presence, literally and figuratively. He’s influential and commands a lot of respect.”

Nass praised Danzeisen for his dedication as church treasurer and for helping on three major fundraising efforts: a $1 million campaign two decades ago to expand the church, a $300,000 campaign inspired by the church’s 300th anniversary and a “faith legacy fund” to encourage remembering the church in wills and estates. Danzeisen is “very grounded in his faith and loves our history, and he and Diane have done so much to keep it going,” Nass said.

“John has an exceptional sense of civic awareness without having any personal agenda,” said Richard Beck, a Kennett Pike Association board member. “He’s a good leader, with a wish to be useful. He’s straightforward, and that’s refreshing.”

“I like to do what’s right,” John said.

A brief backstory

Danzeisen and his family moved to Delaware in 1996, buying a Centreville house that they’re remodeling with Glidden paint, an ICI product that he knows well from six years as Glidden’s CEO.

He and his wife, Diane, have two children and three grandchildren, and they share their home with a black Lab named Charlie Brown and a yellow Lab named Sally Brown.

He was encouraged to volunteer with the Red Cross by Norman Barthelson, a former ICI colleague, He had often given blood but had been banned for life because he’d been living in England in the time of mad cow disease. He leveraged expertise in finance and his many connections, near and far.

His interest in improving Centreville led to volunteering with the Kennett Pike Association. 

The association, which dates back to 1957, counts as members 300 families, 12 neighborhood associations that represent another 300 families and 36 businesses and institutions. It focuses on the preservation, beauty and responsible development of the road and points nearby.

The association has been around so long that it is an institution, and a stop for developers as the plan – and tweak – their proposals to get their seal of approval.

“There’s a severe housing shortage in the U.S.,” Danzeisen noted, and “politicians are under enormous pressure to build more affordable housing.” So the association at first welcomed a proposal to build 10 “pocket houses” on an acre and a half in Centreville. “We liked the idea of a pocket community,” he said. “It adds diversity and lets people stay in town” as their housing needs change.

But it withdrew support once leaders realized the community hadn’t been asked about it, he said.

Civic involvement

“We have a voice, and we know how to use it,” he said. “The state knows that, and the county knows that. We’re responsible. When we ask for something, it’s in the best interest of the community.”

Beauty was added to the association’s charge in 1996, he said, and that includes caring for the median landscaping along routes 52, 100 and 141.

“He has a lot of common sense and a feel for what the community needs to be – beautified,” Diane said. “He has a real feel from talking to so many people. He knows what people in this community want. Now, they’re not all on the same page, but he tries to reach a common ground with everybody.”

“This is a very close and tight-knit community,” she said. “We all work together.

The Danzeisens are also thinking about a new community. They’re on the top of the waiting list for Stonegates, the senior complex in Greenville, but they’re not ready to move in. 

He’s also planned his tombstone for the family plot at Lower Brandywine. “It’ll have a looped recording, so when you walk up, I’m going to greet you and say ‘Hi, thanks for coming.’ ”

“As his wife said,” Diane immediately chimed in, “you’re not going to do that.”