Fr. Daniel Hall was raised in a military family and lived in many places in his early years including three years in Cuba during the revolution. The family eventually settled down in Virginia Beach, VA, and Fr. Hall attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg.
Fr. Dan Hall served as a chaplain with the Marines
He dropped out of college and entered the Army to be a helicopter pilot, but his eyesight prevented that from happening, so he went a different route. Instead, Fr. Hall became an infantry officer and then on to Special Forces training. From there he went to Vietnam for two tours.
Fr. Hall eventually left the Army and began working on finishing his degree while working for various businesses. His first encounter with Viatorians was when was working as the recreation director at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Flamingo Hilton. From there he transferred to the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.
Fr. Dan Hall served as a teacher and coach at Saint Viator High School
It was there that he began his serious conversation with the Viatorians. Eventually, he applied and was accepted into the pre-novitiate program and moved to Chicago on Jan. 6, 1979. While in Chicago, Fr. Hall earned his teaching certification and a Master’s degree in counseling psychology from Loyola University of Chicago.
Even before he entered the pre-novitiate, Fr. Hall began teaching at Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights, from 1978 to 1982. He would spend the next two years in pastoral ministry as an ordained deacon at Maternity BVM Parish in Bourbonnais, before heading to Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, where he taught for three years.
Fr. Hall was ordained to the priesthood in 1988 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, IL. Fr. Hall asked for and received permission to re-enter active-duty military service. He served for six years as a chaplain with the U.S. Marine Corps and the Navy for two years.
Fr. Daniel Hall has served on the Provincial Council since 2009.
In 1998, Fr. Hall left the military service to become the founding Viatorian pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Corozal Town, Belize. He served there for five years.
in 2012, Fr. Hall returned to St. Viator High School where he taught social studies, coached football and wrestling and served as Vice President for Viatorian Identity and Mission. He also started the Viatorian Giving Garden on the grounds of the Province Center. Right from the start, he ensured that participating gardeners would help feed the hungry, by donating their produce to area food pantries.
Fr. Hall has served on the Provincial Council since December 2009, as a Councilor, Assistant Provincial and as Provincial since December 2018. After his term as Provincial ended in 2022, Fr. Hall took a six-month sabbatical and afterwards, he returned to Saint Viator High School to work part-time moderating its Lion Learning Program study hall.
As the 2024-2025 academic year approaches, Fr. Hall is discerning what he wants to do next, but this much he knows: He will continue to advance the Viatorian charism of educating the young and embracing those “accounted of little importance.”
Updated July 8, 2024