Dan Haughey ’62

As the seventh and youngest child of Irish immigrants, Dan Haughey knows that he was lucky to be able to attend St. Joseph’s Prep. Now, nearly 60 years after his graduation, he continues to give so that other young men have the same opportunities that he had.

“Honestly, from my background, the Prep was an incredible challenge to me academically,” he says. “The foundation and the value system were built right there. As I reflect back, I think, ‘What would I be without it?’”

Haughey says that his path to the Prep was aided by the fact that his brother, John, was a Jesuit. At that time, John was a scholastic teaching at the Prep, and he eventually became a noted writer, authoring 17 books and achieving worldwide acclaim, including writing for America, the Jesuit magazine.

Haughey grew up in the Overbrook section of West Philadelphia (“I saw Wilt Chamberlain walk back and forth from school and Sonny Liston, the fighter, lived in our neighborhood.”) and was the only member of his family to attend the Prep. After graduation, he went to Saint Joseph’s College, where he was a part of the first class from the well-respected Academy of Food Marketing. The son of a man who ran a corner grocery store out of a restored garage at 59th and Dunlap Streets spent his life in the food industry, first, for decades at Del Monte and then spending his final 20 years with Barilla Pasta, where he was part of the company from the ground up.

Now retired and living about 60 miles outside of Chicago, he is happy to be able to support causes that were important to him and his late wife Anita. “We have had a wonderful life,” he says. “My journey has been fantastic. I’ve been blessed all the way. Even when there were tough things, I always had angels looking out for me. We have always tried to give back.”

Dan supports the Prep now by giving from his IRA and is happy to support the school. “If I can give somebody the opportunity that I had, my gift is worth it,” he says. “It is a privilege of life if you can go to a school like St. Joseph’s Prep with its standards. I am in a position to be able to help support others. I am glad to be in a position to pay it forward and give other students the chance to attend the Prep.”