Some funeral tidbits

ARCHBISHOP TIMOTHY DOLAN came to St. Teresa's Residence yesterday afternoon to pay respects at the first wake for Fr. Dan Schneider. Dolan and Schneider have been friends for many decades when Dolan was first ordained and assigned to a parish in St. Louis where Schneider served while on development.

The archbishop was most gracious and spent time with the men at St. T's but he saved special conversations for all the Maryknollers from St. Louis.

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Apparently there is some brouhaha brewing because the kitchen staff locked the door to the dining room at 1:28 to begin breaking down the set-up. To their credit they did a yeoman's job accommodating the 130 extra guests— family and friends of Fr. Dan at the funeral today. According to Fr. John Moran, some Maryknollers and guests could not get to their anticipated ice cream. The removal of the handle from the frozen yogurt machine also gave an unfavorably inhospitable impression. This is what the news people call a "developing story" and I'm sure any misunderstanding will soon be ironed out. Besides this, the kitchen staff did a wonderful job, as mentioned above, serving this sudden influx of many guests.

The funeral was a wonderful tribute and beautiful send-off for Father Dan. He has a HUGE family, all of whom seemed very much at home in a Catholic church. Those who spoke were very articulate, humorous, and heartfelt. Three came forward after Communion to give their eulogies.

We started the funeral a half hour earlier than normal (10:30 instead of 11:00) to accommodate the physical plant people who have only a few hours to set up the risers and chairs in the main chapel in time for the final dress rehearsal before tonight's Christmas concert.