By Lou Baldwin • Posted May 28, 2015

Father Daniel J. Gallagher, 92, a former pastor of Corpus Christi Parish in Philadelphia and St. David Parish in Willow Grove, died May 23.

Born in Philadelphia, the son of the late Edward Benedict Gallagher and the late Anna (Boyle) Gallagher, he attended Our Mother of Sorrows School, St. Thomas More High School and the University of Pennsylvania before entering St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

He was ordained May 19, 1951 by Bishop Hugh L. Lamb at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, with his first assignment in hospital ministry at All Saints Chapel, Philadelphia.

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He also served as parochial vicar at St. Francis de Sales, Philadelphia; Incarnation of Our Lord, Philadelphia; St. Laurence, Upper Darby; St. Athanasius, Philadelphia; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Doylestown and pastor of Corpus Christi, Philadelphia. In 1979 he was appointed pastor of St. David Parish, Willow Grove.

He also had secondary assignments on the archdiocesan Parish Sites and Boundaries Commission and as an auditor for the Office of the Metropolitan Tribunal.

Mary Costello, who was his secretary at St. David’s, remembers him as “a quiet man and a good priest. There was never a hard word between us,” she said. He loved to walk and would often walk to the cemetery to pray where his parents are buried.

Although he retired in 1992, some members of the parish kept in touch sending cards, and visiting, Costello said.

Msgr. Richard Bolger, who succeeded Father Gallagher as pastor of St. David’s, called his predecessor “someone who never blew his own horn. He wasn’t looking for praise but he told it like he saw it, and there is no question he was a good faithful priest.”

The Reception of the Body for Father Gallagher will be held at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 29 at St. Francis Center for Rehabilitation and Health Care, Darby, followed by a viewing and 11 a.m. funeral Mass celebrated by Bishop John J. McIntyre.

Concelebrants include Msgr. Daniel Sullivan and Father William Dombrow, and Msgr. Bolger, who will be the homilist.

Father Gallagher is survived by his sister, Mary Theresa Gallagher, his brother, William; his nieces Loretta Gallagher, Elizabeth Brehm, Suzanne McAndrews; his nephews John Gallagher and Neil Gallagher. Interment will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Yeadon.