Dan Harrell is one of my favorite people in the Irish community and this year I and thousands of others will get to watch him lead one of the oldest parades in the United States, the Philadelphia’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Dan is a big, burly man, possessing many amazing talents yet always quick to laugh at himself.
Born in Philadelphia’s Presbyterian Hospital on December 4, 1943, to Agnes Bridget McDaid (Drimarone, County Donegal) and James Oliver Harrell (County Mayo roots), Dan was one of seven children. He was educated in various Catholic grammar schools and graduated from West Catholic High School in 1961, where he studied mechanical drawing and math.
Dan hung out at a certain hoagie shop called Cappy’s where he took a liking to the owner’s daughter, Regina Caputo. She liked him back and they married in 1964. “Lucky Dan” and Regina had six daughters: Leanora, Colleen, Debbie, Melissa, Jackie and Erin. He also served six years in the US Marine Corps where his job was artillery surveying. From there, Dan went on to careers at General Electric and the University of Pennsylvania.
It was while working at Penn in the Housekeeping Department that Dan met his second love: the Palestra, or as Dan calls it, “The Other Woman”
Built in 1927, the Palestra is known as the Cathedral of College Basketball and is home to the Penn Quakers. From the beginning, Dan says he was smitten with the place. And the beginning was when he was a kid and he had sneaked into the building with his boyhood friends. Now, he actually had the keys to every room.
The way he describes it, this place was his own paradise, and each morning he would turn on classical music as he went about his work. He probably couldn’t tell you the name of the music or the orchestra but somehow he equated the discipline and passion of the athlete with the performance and talent of the musician.
He knew every nook and cranny, every plank on the floor, and could be seen pushing his mop during half-time. It was 23 years of loving the Palestra.
(His love story wasn’t exactly secret. It was written about in a variety of media, from ESPN.com to the Philadelphia Inquirer!)
But along with working for the university, Dan eventually became a student there. A player challenged him to complete his education. Dan had been to college: He attended St. Joseph’s College for one day and two classes, opting for work instead. As a Penn employee, there was a bonus: tuition was free!
Dan took the challenge and after 10 years at Penn studying American Civilization and Anthropology, he graduated. It was during these years, he wrote an amazing essay called, “The Other Woman” AKA the Palestra. He describes it as “tall and picturesque”, “as American as Apple Pie” and as the “most loyal friend a youngster and an old man can have”.
At his graduation as a member of the class of 2000, Dan Harrell carried a mop, upright, with the fringe dyed red and blue as if it was his crozier. Former Penn President Judith Rodin called him “an authentic Penn hero.”
He was a hero in other ways. When a friend from Northern Ireland took Dan on a trip there, he was introduced to the students from St. Malachy’s College in Belfast, the oldest Catholic grammar school for boys in Ulster. For many years since, Dan has been instrumental in bringing a group of musicians and basketball players from the school to the US where they have participated in the same parade that is honoring Dan this year.
What an amazing life Dan Harrell has led so far. And now to lead the parade of his beloved Irish community–on Sunday, March 12–is the icing on the cake! As someone who has been Grand Marshal myself, I asked Dan how he felt being selected to lead the parade this year. “Overwhelming,” he said. “It’s like being honored for something you liked to do.”
