Rev. Daniel Mulhauser, S.J., a trusted advisor to thousands of Le Moyne alumni, parents and friends for many years dating back to the early 1960s, has passed away. Father Dan died peacefully on Sunday, May 7 at the age of 96 at Murray-Weigel Hall the East Coast Jesuit Province Retirement and Assisted Living Center in the Bronx, N.Y. where he had been receiving care for the last year.
A Syracuse native, and proud son of the Syracuse Diocese and St. Rose of Lima Parish, Father Dan served in the Army from 1944 to 1946 and was a Disabled American Veteran of the Second World War. Jesuit educated, he received his bachelor’s in philosophy from Regis University in 1949 and a master’s in Catholic philosophy from St. Louis University in 1951, the same year he entered the Society of Jesus. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1960 at the Fordham University Church, Bronx, NY, by Francis Cardinal Spellman. He first came to the Heights in 1962, serving as an instructor of theology and chaplain until 1968. After spending two years in Chicago completing his doctor of ministry degree in pastoral counseling he returned, serving as a chaplain from 1970 until he left Le Moyne in 1974. Over the next 28 years, Father Dan undertook a number of stateside and international assignments, including serving as Director of Vocations for the Jesuit’s New York Province, and more than 15 years working in the Jesuit Mission in Micronesia, where he served as Director of Seminarians at St. Ignatius House Pre-Seminary, Guam and campus minister and counselor at the University of Guam, and as Director of Novices in Palau. He was held in high esteem by the laity, religious and clergy in Guam, and during his final years there served as Secretary to the Archbishop. In 2002, he returned to Le Moyne, and spent 20 years in Advancement and Development, where his work as chaplain to the alumni allowed him to reconnect with many students from the ’60s and ’70s. He moved to Murray-Weigel Hall in 2022.
In 2009 he was made an honorary alumnus of the College, in 2014 he was honored at the College’s Le Moyne in New York Gala, and the Daniel J. Mulhauser S.J. Ministry Center was dedicated in 2017. He was immensely proud of time in the service and participated in Honor Flight Syracuse. His calm, quiet and thoughtful demeanor belied a side of him that skied competitively well into his 80s.
He served as confessor and spiritual director to clergy and religious of the diocese following his return to LeMoyne from Micronesia . Father Dan served with great joy as weekend associate at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Baldwinsville from 2009 to 2022 and continued to cherish the friendships that he made there.
Visitation will be in the Panasci Family Chapel on Friday, May 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday, May 13 from 10 to 11 a.m. A concelebrated funeral Mass, with Principal Celebrant, Rev. Donald Kirby, S.J., Superior, and Rev. Vincent Hevern, S.J. as homilist, will follow at 11:30 a.m. in the chapel. The funeral Mass will be live streamed at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJv7bboziw
Interment will be at the Jesuit Cemetery at the Martyrs Shrine in Auriesville, N.Y. (day and time to be determined.) Arrangements are in the care of Ryan Bros. & Hulchanski Funeral Home.
In lieu of memorial flowers, friends are invited to make a donation to the Rev. Daniel J. Mulhauser, S.J. Endowed Scholarship at LeMoyne College, 1419 Salt Springs Road, Syracuse, NY 13214 or to Fr Dan’s Jesuits U.S.A. East Province, 39 East 83rd St., NY, NY 10028.
Letters of condolence can be mailed to Fr. Dan’s niece:
Barbara and Paul Sansoucy
7700 Mountain Ash
Liverpool, N.Y. 13090
Please keep Father Dan, his family, friends and fellow Jesuits in your prayers during this difficult time.
