Rev. Daniel J. Mulhauser, SJ, was born on January 28, 1927, in Syracuse, NY. He grew up in the West End where he attended Porter School. He was a dedicated Boy Scout earning his Eagle Scout award in the summer of 1942. The family moved in 1942 to western New York. He graduated from Kenmore High School in 1944 after which he enlisted in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946. After discharge, he attended Regis College, Denver, CO until 1949 when he received his bachelor’s degree. After earning a master’s degree in philosophy in 1951 from St. Louis University, he entered the Society of Jesus at St. Stanislaus, the former Jesuit seminary in Florissant, MO. He pronounced First Vows at St. Andrew on Hudson novitiate in Poughkeepsie, NY, on August 18, 1953. He studied Theology at Woodstock College in Maryland and later went on to earn a Doctor of Ministry from the Chicago Theological Seminary. He was ordained a priest on June 18, 1960, at Fordham University in the Bronx.
Fr. Mulhauser began and finished his mission as a Jesuit priest at Le Moyne College in Syracuse. He began teaching Theology there in 1962 and then served as prefect of student counselors. In 1974, he was named director of vocations for the New York Province for a six-year term. In 1980, Fr. Mulhauser began what would become a more than two-decade mission in Micronesia and Guam. For the first six years, he served as director of the St. Ignatius House of Studies. Located near the University of Guam, St. Ignatius House was designed as a residence for college-aged men who seriously wanted to become either priests of the Diocese of the Caroline and Marshall Islands or Jesuit priests or brothers of the New York Province mission in Micronesia. He then spent another six years at the University of Guam, first in campus ministry and then as a counselor and chaplain. Following a brief sabbatical, he served as director of novices for the novitiate in Palau through 1997. He finished his time back in Guam as acting superior and again as director of the St. Ignatius House of Studies.
Fr. Mulhauser returned to his beloved Le Moyne College in 2003 where he served as the college alumni chaplain for six years. He continued in pastoral ministry and as chaplain emeritus to the alumni for another 13 years. In his honor, the College dedicated the “The Daniel J. Mulhauser, S.J. Campus Ministry Center” in 2017.
Over the years, Fr. Mulhauser became an avid skier, enjoying the slopes in Colorado, New Zealand, Adirondacks, and racing at Labrador Mountain. He made several canoe trips in the Adirondacks and was often found working out in the gym at Le Moyne College. He was an excellent bridge player, enjoying weekly games with friends. He was an enthusiastic supporter of Le Moyne College competitive athletics and in particular its lacrosse team. Whatever activities Fr. Mulhauser was engaged in, his smile, good humor and words of wisdom enriched and inspired many lives.
Fr. Dan Mulhauser died peacefully on May 7, 2023, at Murray-Weigel Hall in the Bronx at the age of 96.