Danny Guice Jr.

Daniel Dicks Guice Jr. was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1953, the elder son of Margaret Guice and Daniel Guice Sr. His father was a Biloxi politician who served as the city's mayor and as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives, so public life was part of his upbringing.

He graduated from Biloxi High School in 1971 and then attended the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss, together with his high school sweetheart, Janie Bertrand. He later received a master's degree from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Guice began his working life in the justice system, serving as a parole officer, a bailiff and a justice of the peace.

In 1983 he was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives for District 114, which covers parts of Jackson and Harrison counties on the Gulf Coast. He was re-elected five times and served six consecutive four-year terms, from 1984 to 2008. Alongside his legislative work he was Gulf Coast director for the Associated General Contractors of Mississippi, the state's construction industry association.

In 2008 Governor Haley Barbour appointed him to the Mississippi Parole Board. He served on the board until 2012, retiring, as his family put it, just in time for the birth of his first granddaughter.

Guice married Janie Bertrand, whom he had dated since high school, and they had two sons, Daniel and Nicholas. The couple were keen travellers, making 19 trips abroad to countries including England, Poland, Spain, France, Scotland, Germany, Russia, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Ukraine, Turkey, New Zealand and Australia.

His family described him as a daredevil who flew a ride-along in an F-18, went skydiving with his sons, rafted white water from Canada to Costa Rica and once jumped overboard to swim with dolphins in the Caribbean. He loved the Gulf Coast and spent many hours at his parents' home on Back Bay, throwing a cast net from their pier for shrimp, and in later life he became a devoted fisherman. He was remembered as a joker and a bit of a rascal, quick with a wink and a smile, who always had time to listen and a heart willing to help.

Danny Guice died peacefully at his home in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on 23 October 2026, aged 73, surrounded by his family. His death was announced in an obituary published by Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Homes and reported by WLOX on 27 October. The cause of death was not made public. In lieu of flowers, he asked that donations be made to the Parkinson's Foundation. Private services were held.

He was survived by his wife Janie, his sons Daniel and Nicholas, his daughter-in-law Kimberly, his granddaughters Roxy and Mazie, and his siblings Carolyn and Barry. He was predeceased by his parents.

Guice was part of a Biloxi political family spanning two generations in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Over 24 years he represented the communities of Jackson and Harrison counties at the state Capitol, and his later service on the Parole Board drew on the experience he had gained as a parole officer at the start of his career.