Brother Daniel F. Casey, F.S.C., died peacefully on Wednesday, July 30, at the Saint Antoine Residence in North Smithfield, Rhode Island. He was 74 years old and just short of his 56th anniversary as a Brother of the Christian Schools.
Brother Daniel was the President/Vice-Chancellor of Bethlehem University in the Holy Land from 2005 until March 2008 when he resigned from his position as a result of his illness.
Upon graduation from Catholic University, Brother Daniel began his career as an educator as a fifth grade teacher at Good Shepherd School in New York City. From 1958 to 1964, he taught Latin at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School (Brooklyn, NY) and St. Mary’s High School (Waltham, MA). In July of 1964, Brother Daniel was appointed principal of St. Mary’s. In 1971, he was assigned the headmaster of St. Joseph school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and auxiliary provincial for the area, at the same time.
Brother Daniel spent the 1975 school year pursuing post-masters studies at Boston College. He then returned to his alma mater, St. Raphael’s Academy, as teacher, then as principal.
From 1980 until 1986, he served as principal of Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. At the end of his second term as principal, he returned to Providence as an educational consultant to the Diocese of Providence. One year later, Brother Daniel became the Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Providence, a position he held from 1987 to 1996.
In 1996, he began a period of direct service to the Brothers themselves when he was named auxiliary provincial for the Brothers of the Long Island-New England Province. Subsequently, Daniel was elected provincial of the Long Island-New England Province.
Finishing his term as provincial, Brother Daniel returned to the missions. He taught and tutored for a six month period at Bethlehem University, a university founded by Pope Paul VI and entrusted to the Brothers of the Christian Schools in order to meet the higher educational needs of the Arab community, both Catholic and Muslim. He used this brief period to acclimate himself to the surroundings, and, in July of that year, became the President/Vice-Chancellor. He was still at this post when he returned to the United States, upon the advice of the doctors in Jerusalem, for treatment.
In addition to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Daniel is mourned and survived by his sister Barbara Casey; two brothers: Edward and John. Daniel was predeceased by his brothers Robert and Richard.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Brother Daniel’s memory may be made to the Brothers of the Christian Schools, 635 Ocean Road, Narragansett, RI.