Retired Archbishop Daniel W. Kucera of Dubuque died May 30 at Stonehill Care Center in Dubuque, Iowa. He was 94.
A funeral Mass was celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Raphael in Dubuque, June 6. Interment was in the cemetery of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill.
Archbishop Kucera, a Benedictine monk and a former abbot for his order, headed the Dubuque Archdiocese from 1983 until he retired in 1995.
His episcopacy in Dubuque was marked, in part, by expansion in services for youth formation, communications, Hispanic ministry and advocacy for public policies that respect the life and dignity of the human person. Additionally, he established an educational development fund for promoting Catholic education and faith formation, which later bore his name.
When he was named Dubuque’s archbishop, he had been serving as the bishop of Salina, Kansas, since March 1980.
Before that he was an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois, for three years.
How sad I am to have heard that my dear friend, Fr. Dan has died. I met him at my uncles funeral, Father Gérard Mack (Mach).O. S. B. Father Gérard’s brother , Raymond Mack was instrumental in the building of the priory in Formosa. The design was partly from a church in Cleveland Ohio. It seems impossible that I was going through papers today and found a letter from Father Dan. I didn’t hear from him at Christmas this past year, but have been ill and didn’t follow up to see if he was ok. I would like to send a donation in his memory. He was a great man and loved his people, must like Our Blessed Lord taught us.