Daniel Hannafin

1933 - 2020

Daniel Patrick Hannafin
February 8, 1933 - December 1, 2020
Chapin, South Carolina - On Tuesday, December 1, 2020, Daniel Patrick Hannafin – husband, father, grandfather, singer, actor, and friend – departed this world peacefully, at home, at the age of 87.
Born in the city of New York on February 8, 1933, to Daniel Hannafin and Eleanor Catterson Hannafin, he graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School and served in the Coast Guard for three years, primarily aboard the cutter Chambers out of New Bedford, MA. Returning home to New York, he undertook vocal studies at the famed Juilliard School of Music and began a career in theater. On August 11, 1962, he married dancer Carol Schmidt, with whom he raised two sons.
A grandson of Irish immigrants, Dan retained a powerful sense of family and tradition throughout his life. He was old-fashioned in the best sense: a kind, dignified, honorable, and hard-working man who admired those qualities in others and prized truth, honesty, and justice. He was a devoted husband, whose 58-year marriage began when he and Carol were both performing on Broadway, and blossomed into a loving partnership affirmed to the last days of his life. He was a caring father and grandfather, a reliable friend, a breadwinner, a churchgoer, a gym-goer, a dog lover, a reader, a storyteller, a union man, and a New Yorker through and through, even after relocating first to Ramsey, New Jersey, and then to Chapin, South Carolina. Proud of his nearly 50-year theatrical career, Dan appeared as an actor and singer in scores of stage, film, and TV roles, including in Broadway and off-Broadway musicals such as "Oklahoma!" and "Camelot" and as the father of the bride in "Daddy's Little Girl," a 1989 Kodak commercial that remains a classic of the genre.
Predeceased by his brother Jack Hannafin and sister Maureen Hannafin Sandhaas, Dan is survived by his cherished wife, Carol Hannafin; his sons Matthew and Brian; his grandchildren Malcolm, Anousheh, and Elizabeth; his sister Kathleen Hannafin Bergen; his seventeen nieces and nephews; and countless other relatives and friends. He lived a good, full life, and will be held in his family's hearts forever.
Dan was buried in a private service on Saturday, December 5, at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church Cemetery in Chapin, SC. Due to COVID-19, no public memorial has yet been scheduled.