Ms. Danielle R. Wilk is the Port Mortuary Branch Chief at the Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Her primary duties are overseeing the Port Mortuary team with the embalming, restoration, casketing and return of fallen service members to their families. She also serves as a liaison in the Mortuary Affairs Division providing care, service and support to the families of our fallen Airmen, including those who remain missing in action or killed in action and are still unaccounted for, as well as educating and training mortuary officers and technicians.

Ms. Wilk has participated in the preparation and return of our fallen to their families from over 20 different mass fatalities. She maintains the position of supervising portions management, conducting inventory of subsequent portions and retained organs of our fallen and facilitating disposition instructions given by the person authorized to direct disposition.

She worked part time at a Metro-Detroit, Michigan area funeral home until she enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1995 for three years before transitioning to college to pursue a degree in mortuary science. She continued to work as a licensed funeral director/embalmer in the Metro-Detroit area until joining the team at AFMAO.

EDUCATION

• 2001 Associate Degree in Fine Arts, Macomb County Community College, Warren, Mich.
• 2002 Bachelor’s Degree in Mortuary Science, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.
• 2016 Mortuary Officer’s Course, Air University, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
• 2016 The National Funeral Directors Association’s Certified Crematory Operator Program
• 2018 The National Funeral Directors Association’s Arranger Training Program

CAREER CHRONOLOGY

• 1. August 1998 - February 2003, Resident Apprentice/Licensed Funeral Director, Chas Verheyden Inc., Grosse Pointe, Mich.
• 2. February 2003 - September 2015, Licensed Funeral Director, Bagnasco & Calcaterra Funeral Homes, St. Clair Shores, Mich.
• 3. September 2015 - November 2022, Mortuary Affairs Specialist, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, Dover AFB, Del.
• 4. November 2022- present, Port Mortuary Branch Chief, Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, Dover AFB, Del.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

• Mortuary Science License - State of Michigan,2002
• Certified Funeral Service Practitioner, Academy of Professional Service Practice, 2006 
• Certified Crematory Operator - National Funeral Director’s Association, 2016 Funeral Director/Embalmer License - State of Delaware,
• 2020 

ASSOCIATIONS

• American Legion