Daniel Joseph Saracino

After a short illness, and only three days after his 77th birthday, Daniel Joseph Saracino passed away at home, surrounded by his loving family on April 7, 2024. He was born in Detroit, Michigan to the late Joseph and Emily (Schneider) Saracino.

He was a devoted husband, to Marcia Saracino; loving father, to Christina Blakey and her husband Jack, Gena Crane and her husband Ben, and Danny Saracino; cherished grandfather to, Joseph, Charlie, Daniel, George, Cecily and Josie; dear brother to, JoAnne Brown, Suzie Cox and her husband Steve, Michele Schroder and her husband Roger, Mary Beth Russo and her husband Mike; Dan’s sister-in-law, Dierdre Saracino; and countless treasured nieces and nephews.

Dan was preceded in death by brother, Hugh Saracino; daughter, Lauren Saracino; and his brothers-in-law, Mark Rausch and Jack Brown.

Dan attended St. Joe High School in South Bend, where he grew into a highly-accomplished collegiate athlete.  Earning a varsity letter in track at the University of Notre Dame, his grit and determination brought him to the NCAA finals as a sophomore in the steeple chase. He graduated from Notre Dame in 1969 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Government. He would go on to earn his Master’s in Education.  

Dan began his service of others as an Admissions Counselor at ND for several years before being promoted to the Dean of Admissions at Santa Clara University, where he and his wife raised their three children. After twenty years, Dan returned home to his alma mater serving for 13 years as the Assistant Provost for Enrollment. Dan also held leadership roles in professional organizations at the state, regional and national levels, including a term as the President of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and he served on the scholarship committees of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the Lilly Foundation, the Brunswick Corporation and the Coca-Cola Scholarship Committees, as well as the College Board.  Upon retirement, Dan continued to mentor others as a consultant for the U.S. State Department traveling the globe to continue helping countless young students find their way both in the college admissions process and in life.  His work with individual students always remained his greatest professional joy.

An avid gardener, Dan planted seeds of love and encouragement not only in his service of others but also in his love of family and in his appreciation of the beauty in life and its simple pleasures.  A Notre Dame football win or an Irish ladies’ basketball victory, a fine meal with family, a hidden box of Sees candy, hours in his garden or at his canvas working with calligraphy or watercolors, watching his grandchildren open presents on Christmas morning, the people, art and beauty of the Southwest and the Hawaiian Islands, all of these things, and many more, held a special place in his heart.  Dan lived a life worthy of remembrance and he will live on in the family that loved him fully and that will miss him terribly. To be loved by Dan was to have the sun shine upon you.

A Gathering of Friends and Family will take place on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at the McGann Hay, University Chapel, 2313 E. Edison Rd., South Bend, from 4-7 p.m.  

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Monday, April 15, 2024 at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on the Campus of Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m. with burial immediately following at Cedar Grove Cemetery also on the Notre Dame Campus. The Mass will be live-streamed at https://basilica.nd.edu/sacraments/funerals/funerals-livestream/

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are asked to be sent to the Saracino Memorial Scholarship: http://giveto.nd.edu/give?fund_id=2938;or to the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, at http://www.cfh.net.  

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