Newest deacon called ‘very dedicated,’ ‘fatherly figure’

He had felt God calling him into ministry, but with 10 kids and a more than full time job, Daniel Quagliana had to wait until retirement to begin the steps to becoming a permanent deacon.

“I would say God’s been pulling me towards Him to do His work for most of my adult life. A stronger call at some times, not so strong a pull at other times,” Deacon Quagliana, 54, said, shortly before his June 14 ordination. “I didn’t have a flash bang calling like St. Paul did. It’s always been there.”

He grew up in a Catholic environment attending SS. Peter & Paul School in Williamsville and altar serving at the parish. After confirmation in high school, he took on a more adult role at the parish.

“My friend and I would go to the Saturday vigils. We would usher, go around with the collection baskets, show people to their pews,” he recalled.

He admits to being less active beginning in his college years. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from St. Bonaventure University. At the same time, he met his future wife, Alicia, an English major there.

When their first daughter was born in 1994, Deacon Quagliana wanted her to be baptized in the Catholic faith. Introducing his firstborn into the faith, also reintroduced him.

“That really drew me back into the Church. Having a family, and wanting them to be brought up in the faith. Things just grew and blossomed. The Holy Spirit was at work in me,” he said.

Attending St. James Major Parish (now St. Dominic) in Westfield, he joined the liturgy committee, parish council, and even served as parish council president for a while.

After retiring as a lieutenant from the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department Corrections Division, his family moved to St. Anthony Parish in Fredonia, where Deacon Quagliana taught fourth and ninth grade faith formation. He also took Communion to assisted living facilities Fredonia Place and Southern Tier Meadows.

The free time gave him the opportunity to answer that call that had been with him since his days at St. Bonaventure.

“I could hear God calling me stronger at some points in my life, like when our first daughter was born, when I was called to marriage. In other times that calling wasn’t – maybe I tuned it out or hadn’t properly discerned it during my college years,” he said.

He earned a master’s in Pastoral Studies through online courses at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry in Rochester, where he met “a lot of wonderful teachers, knowledgeable teachers.”

As ordination approaches, he has no idea what his ministry will be. All permanent deacons receive a parish ministry and a ministry of charity. He would like to be involved in some aspect of family life ministry, helping the next generation come to know and love the Church.

“‘We used to joke that if we were a secular family with 1.6 kids, where would we be now?’ I don’t know what it’s like to be an empty nester,” he said. “The kids keep us so busy. Every day it’s ‘Mom, Dad, can you drive me over to this friend’s house.’ ‘Mom, Dad, can these friends come over to our house?’ ‘Oh, I have soccer practice tonight.’ ‘I got Boy Scouts tonight.’ We’ve been doing it for 30 years. I don’t know anything different. Family life is everything to us.”

At his ordination, Alicia Quagliana, described her husband as a “very dedicated person.” 

“He’s dedicated to his family. He’s dedicated to the Lord. And he had a calling to be a deacon. It took five years of preparation, but he did it,” she said.

It was a hectic time as Alicia and their older kids had to pitch in to take care of the younger kids as their father was caught up in his studies. 

“It’s exciting. It’s gratifying. I’m very proud,” she said.“He’s a wonderful husband and a wonderful father, and I think he’s going to make a wonderful deacon.”

Dr. Sarah Walters earned her Ph.D. in Theology while Deacon Quagliana was working on his master’s in Pastoral Ministry. Some of their online classes at St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry overlapped.

“He’s quietly insightful. He didn’t say a lot, but he was very deep theologically,” she said. “He had a great deal of wisdom. I think he put his family first. He had a number of children. So, he had a lot of wisdom, a very fatherly figure.”