Rev. Daniel Paul Riley, O.F.M. H’13

Rev. Daniel Paul Riley, O.F.M., St. Bonaventure, NY, died July 24, 2024. Saint Michael’s College presented Fr. Riley, a beloved and influential friar at St. Bonaventure University in western New York state, with an honorary degree in 2013.

Fr. Dan was the “founder and animator” of Mt. Irenaeus Franciscan Mountain Community, “a haven for contemplation and reflection” roughly between Rochester and Buffalo in Friendship, NY.

Born William Francis Riley on February 6, 1943, in Rochester, NY, he was a graduate of Charlotte High School. In 1960 he arrived at St. Bonaventure University following in the footsteps of his uncles, Tom and Rip Riley. He came with aspirations of being a doctor, but influenced by friars like Irenaeus Herscher and Gervase White, he changed his major to philosophy his sophomore year, graduating in 1964.

He joined the Franciscan Order in 1965, took the name of Daniel Paul, and furthered his education at The Catholic University of America and Washington Theological Union. A champion of civil rights during the turbulent 1960s, Fr. Dan served as co-chair of a religious task force for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

During his initial stint at St. Bonaventure University (1971-1974), Fr. Dan worked with Fr. John O’Connor, O.F.M., to oversee the conversion of the old maintenance building on campus into the Thomas Merton Ministry Center, and he worked with students to find a home for Olean’s first Warming House, which is now the oldest student-run soup kitchen in the nation.

Fr. Dan was assigned by Holy Name Province to positions in Boston, New York City, Portsmouth, N.H., and Washington, D.C., between 1974 and 1978, but was asked to return to St. Bonaventure to become coordinator of the university’s vocation program and a campus minister.

In a life committed to building community and armed with a promise from his province to grow a regional ministry, Fr. Dan revitalized the dream of a center for contemplation and reflection, following the model of St. Francis in establishing places of solitude. A Mountain advisory board made up of campus and civic leaders was formed in 1981.

In 1984, the Mountain’s board of trustees purchased 204 acres in rural Allegany County, 20 miles from campus, to establish Mt. Irenaeus. The project culminated with the dedications of Holy Peace Chapel in 1990 and the Mountain’s signature House of Peace in 1995.

Today, Mt. Irenaeus spreads across more than 300 acres and welcomes students, faculty, staff, friends, neighbors and more from around the local area, across the country and around the world, realizing Fr. Dan’s dream for generations of visitors. As Fr. Dan wrote in his 2022 book, Franciscan Lectio: Reading the World Through the Living Word, “The history of our land is layered with mystery, beauty, suffering and the success of others.”

To broaden the outreach of Mt. Irenaeus, Fr. Dan began taking his ministry on the road with Joe Flanagan in the early 1990s, traveling across the country with students to meet with alumni and friends for evening reflections and/or Mass. Those trips continued until this past spring.

For more than 50 years, Fr. Dan’s words, actions and legendary laugh left an indelible mark on the lives of thousands of people across the country, including St. Bonaventure students, many of whom maintained their friendships with Fr. Dan long after graduation. He officiated hundreds of weddings, baptisms and funerals. He was known for meeting St. Bonaventure students and alumni where they were – whether it was a Mass at the Mountain, the student center, or on Instagram, where he frequently shared the gospel complemented by his own photography.

His profound impact was formally recognized in 2023 when Fr. Dan received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater at the Commencement ceremony.

 In 2013, Fr. Dan received an honorary degree from Saint Michael’s College. The citation, read at that year’s Commencement ceremony by Saint Michael’s College’s then-VP for Human Resources Michael New (who knew Riley and sponsored the honorary degree) stated the College was honoring Fr. Dan as “as a man who lives his life in the way that Saint Francis espoused … to ‘preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.’”

Fr. Dan also was honored in 2009 with St. Bonaventure’s Gaudete Medal, one of the university’s highest honors. Recipients are chosen through their demonstration of joy and service that exemplify the life of St. Francis of Assisi.

Fr. Dan was a multimedia artist and creative minister who used a variety of mediums, including podcasts, video reflections, watercolor paintings, photography and near daily reflections on Instagram to reach people regardless of their location or time of day. He traveled extensively beyond Mountain on the Road events, including favorite locations such as Keuka Lake, Big Sur, California, the Arizona desert and Assisi, Italy. Many of his Instagram reflections come from these locations. Within the journey of his 81 years, the center of his wheel housed his Riley family.

Fr. Dan is survived by a brother, two sisters and extended family.