Daniel J. Hartigan, O.S.A.

1917 – 2017 (February 17)

Daniel Joseph Hartigan was born June 15, 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts to David F. and Julia Hartigan.  He was baptized June 17, 1917 at St. Vincent Church, South Boston, Massachusetts, and received the Sacrament of Confirmation October 16, 1929 at St. Augustine Church, South Boston. Daniel graduated in 1934 from Boston Trade School, Boston. He worked for two years as a printer, and in 1936 entered the formation program at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York, where he studied Latin for one year. He was received into the novitiate on September 9, 1937, professed simple vows in the Order on September 10, 1938 and solemn vows on September 10, 1941.  He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Villanova College, Villanova, Pennsylvania, in 1942, and then pursued theological studies at Augustinian College, Washington, D.C. He received an M.A. in 1946, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 22, 1945. 

Father Hartigan went on to earn an M.S. in Mathematics from Catholic University of America, Washington in 1946, an M.Ed. from Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, in 1959 and an Ed. D. from Loyola in 1962. He did additional studies in Psychology at Loyola University. He was assigned in 1946 to St. Rita High School, Chicago, as a teacher.  When Mendel Catholic High School, Chicago, opened its doors in 1951, Father Hartigan was assigned as a member of its original faculty.
In 1960 he was transferred to Tolentine College, Olympia Fields, Illinois, as a teacher and counselor.  At the same time, he was named Superintendent of Schools for the Augustinian Secondary School system of the Midwest Province.  From 1963 to 1968, he was also Principal of Mendel Catholic High School.  He served as prior of Mendel Monastery from 1968 to 1974, and was inducted into the Mendel Hall of Fame in 2001.

Father Hartigan became a Certified Alcoholism Counselor and a Registered Psychologist in the State of Illinois. Beginning in 1974, he was employed by the City of Chicago, Department of Health, first as a Clinical Psychologist, and from 1976 to 1993 as Psychologist and Director of the city’s Mid-South Mental Health Center.  During these years he resided at Mendel Monastery, Chicago, until 1988, then at St. Rita Monastery, Chicago. When he retired from the Bureau of Mental Health in 1993, he joined the St. Clare of Montefalco Community, Chicago, where he also was prior until 2002.  He was transferred to St. Monica Monastery, Chicago, where he was named prior in 2006, and served in this office until 2010.

Father Hartigan was assigned to St. Nicholas of Tolentine Monastery, Olympia Fields, in April 2010, and when Bl. Stephen Bellesini Friary was established at Franciscan Village, Lemont, Illinois, in July of that year, Father Hartigan was assigned as a member of the community there.
  In August 2014, Bl. Stephen Bellesini Friary was relocated to Indiana, and Father Hartigan moved to Mercy Circle, a health care facility on Chicago’s South Side. As he aged, Father Hartigan gradually grew weaker, until he died at Mercy Circle on February 17, 2017. At age 99 years, eight months, he was the eldest Augustinian in the United States and Canada. He is buried in the Augustinian plot at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Alsip, Illinois.

Father Hartigan is remembered as a faithful, approachable and caring Augustinian.  As an administrator, he was open to trying new things to enhance the learning experiences of his students.