Daniel P. Warner; AIDS Activist, Shanti Foundation Co-Founder

Daniel P. Warner, co-founder and former executive director of the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation, which assists AIDS victims, died Monday on his 38th birthday.

Warner, who also served as program director of the AIDS education group West Hollywood CARES, died in San Francisco of AIDS.

A major fund-raiser and spokesman for AIDS assistance groups, he created and organized the National Candlelight March in 1983 and in 1990.

Warner, who tested HIV-positive when he was 25, wrote to The Times in 1988: “I see sickness and death everywhere I go. It has become a way of life, something I have to live with and deal with. I have committed myself to helping the fight against the misconceptions and prejudices, which can overwhelm a person with this infection, by working as a health educator for the city of West Hollywood.”

In 1991, Warner earned Shanti’s first Commitment to Service Award, which was named in his honor and is now given annually. A lifelong baseball fan, he was invited to throw out the first pitch at Candlestick Park on Shanti Day Sept. 14, 1991. He also received Los Angeles County’s Community Service Award in 1991 and received a certificate of recognition from the state Senate.

Warner served as consultant to two television movies dealing with AIDS--”Our Sons” on ABC and the Emmy Award-winning “An Early Frost” on NBC.

A native of St. Louis, Warner came to Los Angeles in 1976 to attend California Institute of the Arts and UCLA.

He is survived by his companion, Matt Satterlund, of San Francisco, and his parents, three brothers, a sister, and several nieces and nephews, all of St. Louis.

Memorial donations can be made to the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation, 1616 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles 90028.