From Difficult Childhood to Successful Alumnus

Each alumnus, deaf or hearing, has a story of struggles and successes. For this article, I choose to talk about Daniel Briones, ’68, for overcoming the odds stacked against him early in life. His childhood was fraught with problems of different kinds, both at home and in the dorm and school from 1954 to 1968.

At 12, Daniel Briones, Jr known as DB stands with his biological father, Daniel, Sr who spent years serving his time at San Quentin State Prison while DB grew up. The lack of father presence played a role in his difficult childhood.

Yet, Daniel finally made progress and did well as an independent adult and a good employee soon after he graduated from CSDR.  He has an exceptional cognitive functioning at the way above average level.  Measured in the 1950s, the intelligent exam score for Dan was 197 IQ, the second highest in school’s history.

Daniel enrolled at CSDR in 1954 and stayed at the school until his graduation in 1968. The student picture was taken at age of 13 in Fall 1963.

Daniel has an older sister, Linda, who was admitted to the Lower School with 55 other pioneer students in February 1953. Daniel enrolled in 1954. He started his kindergarten in the Lower School. Linda and Daniel lived with a single mother in Ontario, 30 minutes from CSDR, but Dr Brill allowed them to live in the dorm because there was a lack of communication with Spanish-speaking mother at home.

Linda Briones is in the first group of students admitted to CSDR in February 1953. She is three years older than her brother, Daniel. She is 78 now and lives in San Bernardino.

From 1953 to 1973, students had a choice to go home or stay at school for the weekend. Some parents could not afford bus or train fares for their child to go home every weekend. Parents were responsible for the child’s transportation fares until 1978, when Public Law 94-142 (federal law) went into effect for the state to pick up the tab.

Linda and Daniel depended on their mother for basic needs, but she was not able to bring home enough income for everything. The state provided free clothing for needy students at CSDR each year. Daniel and Linda received an annual issuance of clothing.

Felix Kowalewski was a nationally acclaimed artist and poet in Deaf America. After teaching at three other state schools, Felix transferred to CSDR in 1955 for the last 22 years in his 40-year teaching career for art, drafting and ceramics. He also coached wrestling for a long time. He had an unusual gait (walking style). He had a masterful command of English due to his onset of deafness at 7.

CSDR was fortunate to have a noted Deaf artist and poet on the school faculty. His name was Felix Kowalewski (1913-1989), who taught art, ceramics, and drafting from 1955 until his retirement in 1977. Felix recognized Daniel’s outstanding drawing talent and got Dan’s mother’s approval to allow Daniel to be pulled out of his elementary class every day for one period to develop his drawing skills further under his mentorship.  Dan ended up staying with Felix for 11 years from the Lower School until his graduation.  He also added that all stools were not tall enough to raise him to the drawing board.  Felix asked Evan Ellis (deaf and one of the first vocational teachers (1955-1969)) to build a taller stool specifically for Dan’s short height at age of 7.   He got the top letter grade A every semester for 11 years.

One day in 1966, Dr Brill surprised everybody upon his entrance in the art classroom and asked Dan to draw a face portrait. Dr Brill

sat on the stool motionless for an hour for Dan to pencil draw his face, head and upper body.  When completed, Dr Brill was impressed his life likeness on the paper.  He opened his wallet for $100 for Dan’s extraordinary skill and time.  Dr Brill hung the hand-drawn portrait in his Superintendent’s office.  My calculator says the value of $100 in 1966 is $1,100!  Assistant Superintendent James Hoxie also followed suit and gave $100 to Dan.   A pot of gold coins for Dan!

With the mixture of CSDR vocational training and self-teaching, DB put together a dune buggy on a frame for dirt or sand rides. DB’s hands come handy for hands-on projects.

For occupation or hobby, Daniel is very good with his hands for building or repairing things. Beside art and drafting, Daniel picked up other trade skills in different vocational classes offered at CSDR. He developed a fascination with miniature car models, putting together car body and engine parts with glue. He built hundreds.

Daniel loves to spend time with vehicles. He has several vehicles parked at home. He stands next to the Volkswagen vehicle called “The Thing”. He brought his prize vehicle to CSDR for a football homecoming parade at the game half time. He wears red and gray for the school colors. Once an alumnus, Always an Alumnus.

Now, on the other side of the coin, Daniel, unfortunately, found himself in trouble periodically with teachers and dorm counselors throughout his student years. His student record folder, with incident reports, grew thicker every year. Still, the staff saw good things in him and were familiar with his unstable home life; they tried to shift his focus to lead a life with proper behavior.  Dan walked to Assistant Superintendent Hoxie’s office for a face-to-face meeting about his class disruptions all the time.  He remembers seeing Hoxie’s revolver hung in the leather holster on the wall. This is a no-no in the education system today.

Daniel spent decades in karate as a competitor and an instructor. He also coached the US delegation for karate to the Deaflympics in Taiwan.

One unusual Saturday in 1967, Daniel and his dorm friends were surprised to find a key still in the engine ignition of the state vehicle (1956 Bel Air with a manual shift) for driver training parked by the Vocational Building. As you can imagine, the three boys could not resist going for a joyride. With Daniel sitting in the back seat, his senior class friend drove off-campus and enjoyed the joyride in the neighborhood. On nearby Victoria Ave, a CHP officer spotted the car with the official state car printed on it. The driver made a bad decision to run away from the chasing cop instead and crashed into a tree. Two boys scattered in different directions with the remaining boy staying at the scene. Dan fell into a Gage canal with thick algae. He walked for miles in the canal and got on the dry ground for a walk straight to school. The boy driver spent the night hiding in the hill and returned to school at day’s break. 

The 1956 Bel Air was the school’s first vehicle for driver training. The senior boy stole the vehicle with two boys for a joyride in the neighborhood. During the CHP chase, the vehicle failed to negotiate the curve and crashed to a tree on Victoria Ave. The plus side about the crash was to get rid of the vehicle with a manual transmission which proved to be difficult for driver education students. The new state vehicle (Impala) came with an automatic transmission which was a blessing in the disguise.

As anticipated, the  boys were summoned to see Dr Brill on Monday. Nobody, students or staff, wanted to see Dr Brill alone in a bad mood. The entire school feared Dr Brill’s control with an iron hand. Daniel was saved for last to see Dr Brill; each boy coming out of Dr Brill’s office told him what punishment he got: either suspension or expulsion. Daniel then saw Dorm Counselors Little Bob Jackson and Seymour Bernstein walk to see Dr Brill.

We had two dorm counselors whose names were the same - Bob Jackson. Hence, we came up with Big Bob and Little Bob to prevent the identity confusion. Little Bob, seated, was a CODA and a father figure to DB for three years in high school.

DB credits both Seymour Bernstein (Deaf) and Little Bob Jackson (CODA) for keeping an eye on him for three years prior to graduation so he could earn a diploma.

Daniel waited and waited for his turn to see Dr Brill for punishment. Later, he learned the counselors pleaded with Dr Brill not to expel Daniel from the school in view of his poor discipline upbringing at home, his extraordinary IQ and his good heart. Even with the thick student folder, Daniel got a lucky break: he went home for a five-month suspension rather than expulsion.

DB, at right, also enjoys karate for competition. He holds 6th degree black belt. Movie Actor Chuck Norris was his instructor and friend for many years.

Daniel’s life soon changed for the better, living on his own and working. He landed a job as a technician with Xerox, a blue-chip company with copiers everywhere worldwide in the 1970s and the 1980s. With his genius gift, sharp eyes and good hands for repair, he built a reputation within the company for making suggestions to redesign the copier for fewer breakdowns and cheaper production. His suggestions helped the company save millions of dollars. His genius for Xerox machines caught the attention of upper executives. For Daniel to receive an award for his outstanding performance in Los Angeles, the Xerox president flew to California to congratulate him.

Dan retired in 2018, but he continued to train Chuck Norris’ students for a black belt before he finally retired fully in 2020. As a retiree, he pursues his interest in a Harley Davidson, classic car engine repairs, and everything else that involves his hands.

DB has a passion for classic cars. He can repair engines of different makes including the VW. His VW bug appeared in a monthly magazine “VW Trends” in April 1985, a point of his pride.

DB is grateful for the education and vocational training he received at the school along with the tough love from CSDR teachers and dorm counselors, particularly Little Bob Jackson and Seymour Bernstein.

Linda is now 78 and lives in San Bernardino.  Daniel and his CSDR alumna wife, Lynne Voegele, ‘69, live in Upland, California.

Daniel takes pride in owning and repairing a Harley Davidson. He sits in front of the old landmark entrance sign. He can’t forget his 14-year root at CSDR.

In essence, it is human nature to write off someone easily with poor prospects for the future.  Daniel is a proven case that someone can make a turnaround at one point in life and succeed. I tip my hat to DB for overcoming obstacles for success in the world of work.

Kevin Struxness, ‘76

Editor, CSDR Old Times

8 July 2026

Kevin led his Class of 1976 for a campus and museum tour for the 50th anniversary class reunion. He was class president from 1973 to 1976. Behind him is the best class gift ever given to CSDR by the Class of 1966. It is hung in the Brill lobby. Go and admire the small details of the wood masterpiece.