Father Daniel Atkins is remembered as ‘a kind, gentle, sweet soul’

By Natalie Hoefer

Father Daniel Atkins, a retired priest of the archdiocese, died on Sept. 25 at the age of 78 after incurring a brain injury from a recent fall.

Born on April 10, 1948, Father Atkins was 36 when he began his formation for the priesthood at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad in 1984. He was ordained on June 6, 1987.

Father Atkins served in parishes throughout central and southern Indiana, including ministry with high school and college students for 31 of his nearly 40 years as a priest.

“His passion was working with young people,” says Father Thomas Clegg, pastor of St. John Paul II Parish in Sellersburg and a friend of Father Atkins for nearly four decades. Working with high school- and college-aged students “was a gift God gave him, and he wanted to use that gift because God gave it to him to use.”

Father Clegg says his friend “was excited” to become chaplain coordinator at Our Lady of Providence High School in Clarksville after retiring in 2018. He served in that role until the time of his death.

Serving at the school “brought him full circle,” says Victor Beeler, president of Our Lady of Providence, where Father Atkins graduated in 1966.

After earning degrees in English and philosophy in 1972 from the former Kansas State College (now Pittsburg State University) in Pittsburg, Kan., he taught theology, English and speech at his alma mater in Clarksville. He also started a retreat for the seniors, a tradition which continues today.

It was during his teaching years that his fellow instructor Father Wilfred “Sonny” Day—now a retired priest of the archdiocese—encouraged the young man to consider the priesthood.

Interacting ‘from a genuine place’

“Over those years, I invited him to go to summer school” at Saint Meinrad, says Father Day, who serves as sacramental minister at St. John the Baptist Parish in Starlight and St. Mary Parish in Navilleton. The young man eventually accepted the invitation, and “from then on, he was interested in looking at the priesthood,” says Father Day, who became friends with Father Atkins “30-some years ago.”

He describes his friend as “patient and gentle. And welcoming—he was always inviting people to join whatever he was doing. He liked people, and he liked to be around people.”

Father Clegg agrees and says the feeling was mutual.

“He was incredibly funny,” says the priest. “He always had a joke to tell, and he was willing to laugh at himself. He was fun to be around. … He was also authentic. He didn’t pretend to be something he wasn’t.”

That fun nature and authenticity drew kids to Father Atkins, says Father Clegg. As an example, he recalls a time when his friend substituted for him at a Mass at St. John Paul II Church. Among the congregation were middle-grade students of the parish school.

When Father Clegg saw the students the next day, “They said, ‘We really like Father Dan. We like you too, but we really like Father Dan!’ ” he recalls with a laugh. “And I thought, ‘I really like Father Dan, too!’ ”

So did the Our Lady of Providence students, says Beeler.

“When Father Dan was around, they would gather around him and engage with him rather than him seeking them out,” he says. “They could tell his interactions with them were from a genuine place, and I think they really appreciated that.”

Father Atkins was dedicated to his chaplain coordinator role, adds Beeler. He recalls the priest traveling with the school’s basketball team to away games in 2022 “from the time of regionals through the team winning the state championship, [offering] Mass for them in the locker room.”

Father Atkins, a lover of theater, even made a cameo in the school’s musical last spring.

“He literally just walked from one side of the stage to the other,” says Beeler. “But every night during his 20 seconds [on stage], it was a time of hootin’ and hollerin’ with everyone cheering for him.”

Our Lady of Providence is not the only school where Father Atkins ministered. In fact, in his nearly four decades as a priest, there were only eight years when he was not involved in some form of ministry at a high school or university.

A pastoral impact across the archdiocese

Two of those eight years were during his first priestly assignment as associate pastor of St. Jude Parish in Indianapolis from 1987-1989.

Father Atkins next assignment was as chaplain at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis from 1989-1993 while also serving in various capacities at St. Christopher, St. Michael the Archangel and the former St. Catherine of Siena and St. James the Apostle parishes, all in Indianapolis.

He continued as Roncalli’s chaplain part time in 1994, the first of his four years as co-pastor of St. Paul Catholic Center in Bloomington, where he went on to serve as pastor from 1998-2005.

After ministering in Bloomington, Father Atkins lived out the remaining years of his vocation serving in the New Albany Deanery where he was raised.

There was a break in his ministry to students from 2005-2010 when he served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Corydon, St. Peter Parish in Harrison County and the former Most Precious Blood Parish in New Middletown.

Father Atkins was next assigned as pastor of Holy Family Parish in New Albany from 2010-2018. In 2011, he started ministering to Catholic students at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany, an effort he led until he retired in 2018.

As with many priests, retirement did not mean the end of ministry for Father Atkins. In addition to his role as chaplain coordinator at Our Lady of Providence, he served for a time as an archdiocesan associate director of vocations.

During his 21 years ministering in the New Albany Deanery, Father Atkins’ impact on students extended beyond the Clarksville high school.

‘A kind, gentle, sweet soul’

“As news spreads of the passing of Fr. Dan Atkins, we remember with gratitude his joy, kindness and encouragement toward the young people of our deanery.”

So reads a Sept. 25 Facebook post by Catalyst Catholic, the office that organizes youth ministry for the New Albany Deanery’s 16 parishes in Clark, Floyd and Harrison counties.

“What a blessing he has been to countless young people, whose lives he touched through his friendship and ministry,” the post continues. “We give thanks to God for the gift of his priestly service and for the many ways he inspired and encouraged others.”

Father Atkins “also had the ability to reach out and touch people of any age,” Father Clegg notes. “He was a humble person who simply wanted to do the right thing in everything. He was faithful to his God, to his Church, to the people he served and to his friends.”

Beeler agrees.

“He was always concerned for anyone he engaged with, and it was genuine—and easy to see that it was genuine,” he says. “He met people where they were in the situation they found themselves in and offered whatever general counsel or friendship he could.”

Beeler says he doesn’t recall “ever seeing [Father Atkins] without a smile on his face. He was just a kind, gentle, sweet soul, and it came right through in his ministry.”

Father Atkins’ Mass of Christian Burial, with Father Clegg serving as homilist, was on Sept. 30 at St. Mary of the Knobs Church in Floyd County, followed by his interment in the parish’s cemetery.

He is survived by his siblings Carla Patterson, Jacqueline Vetter and Thomas Atkins, and by his many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. †