Rev. Daniel J. McGuire, who for three decades worked closely with Loyola College presidents during the school's transformation into a regional university, died of a brain tumor at the Loyola Center Jesuit Infirmary at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia Friday. He was 79.
Father McGuire was the special assistant to the president for both the late Rev. Joseph A. Sellinger, and the college's current president, Rev. Harold Ridley.
"He was a Jesuit and a priest through and through," said William Baird Jr., who has known Father McGuire since Baird was a student at Loyola High School in the 1950s. "The theme of the Jesuits is 'men for others,' and he was the ultimate man for others."
Father Ridley praised Father McGuire's "tremendous dedication to Loyola College. [He] was invaluable to the college during a period when it experienced incredible growth on many fronts."
Born in Murroe in County Limerick, Ireland, Father McGuire came to the United States as a young boy and, after attending Gonzaga High School in Washington, D.C., entered the Society of Jesus at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pa., in 1937. He earned his bachelor's degree and Licentiate in Philosophy from Loyola University in Chicago in 1941 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1950.
Father McGuire first came to Baltimore in 1952 to teach Latin, Greek and theology at Loyola High School. From 1956 to 1963, he served in Rome as the Secretary of the American Assistant to the Superior General of the Jesuits, where he met Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII.
After brief assignments as a student counselor at a high school in Philadelphia and pastor of a church in Pittsburgh, Father McGuire arrived at Loyola College in 1967 as acting director of development. A year later, he was promoted to vice president of development and special assistant to the president -- a position he held until becoming ill this winter. The college's McGuire Hall is named for him.
Father McGuire led the college's "First Friday Club" for more than 25 years, celebrating Mass for a group of business leaders. He also celebrated Baltimore's radio Mass every Sunday.
A Christian wake service will be held Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Loyola College Alumni Memorial Chapel. A Mass of Christian burial will be offered Wednesday at 10 a.m. in the chapel. Burial will be at the Jesuit Cemetery for Spiritual Growth in Wernersville.
Donations may be made to the McGuire Scholarship Fund at Loyola College, a fund established in his honor 15 years ago to help needy students.
Pub Date: 6/29/97
