Submitted by: Dan Rich
Br. Donald Edward Bailer CSC
Sept. 19, 1928 - Dec. 10, 2003
Br. Donald Edward Bailer, CSC, 75, died after a long illness on Dec. 10, in Dujarie House, Notre Dame, Ind. He was born on Sept. 19, 1928 in Chicago, Ill., the son of Arthur J. and Gertrude (Berman) Bailer. His parents and a brother preceded him in death. Br. Donald attended public elementary and high schools in Chicago, then earned a bachelor of science in commerce degree from Loyola University in Chicago in 1950. That year he began working with Peat, Marwich, Mitchell and Co. in Chicago, which he left in 1951 to serve in the Armed Forces for a time during the Korean conflict.
Returning to Peat, Marwich in 1952, he remained there until 1957, when he joined the Holy Cross Brothers at Watertown, Wis. He entered the novitiate in Rolling Prairie, Ind., on Aug. 15, 1957, made his first profession of vows there on August 16 a year later, and his perpetual profession at Notre Dame, Ind., on Aug. 16, 1962. From 1958 to 1962 Br. Donald taught on the faculty of St. Joseph High School, South Bend, Ind., and from 1962 to 1964 at Holy Cross High School, River Grove, Ill. He then became the treasurer of Holy Trinity High School, Chicago, a post he filled until 1967, when he was appointed provincial steward at Notre Dame, a position he held until 1978.
He then accepted the role of internal auditor at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, Calif. In 1981 he became controller for the same institution, then in 1988 director of financial projects at the hospital. In 1993 he took on the job of controller for the brothers' Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif., remaining in the financial office there until serious health problems dictated that he take up residence at the brother's infirmary, Dujarie House, at Notre Dame. From 1994 to 2000, besides his work in California, Br. Donald served a second time as the provincial steward of the Midwest Province of brothers.
Br. Donald's habitually good-humored, friendly and steady temperament, coupled with his exceptional capability in financial matters and an extraordinary dedication to his life and duties as a Brother of Holy Cross, all contributed to his frequently being sought out for his prudent and sage advice and for employment in and outside of the community. To the very end, his invariably optimistic and cheerful confrontation with the reality of his illness was exemplary. He will be missed not only as an astute and trusted financial adviser but especially as a friend and a truly devoted brother to others.
Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, in St. Joseph's Chapel, the brothers' Holy Cross Village at Notre Dame, 54515 St. Road 933. A Mass of the Resurrection will follow at 3 p.m. with burial immediately afterward at St. Joseph's Cemetery on the village grounds. The Kaniewski Funeral Home is handling arrangements.