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In Memoriam

Jesuit Father Andrew “Andy” C. Dachauer died on Sept. 12, 2015, at Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos, California. He was 85. He served as the former professor of chemistry at the University of San Francisco and as longtime pastor of St. Joseph’s Church, Mammoth Lakes, California.

Fr. Dachauer was born in Milwaukee on July 5, 1930, the eldest of seven children of Andrew F. Dachauer and Sophie Altenbach Dachauer. The family relocated to San Francisco during the Depression and Fr. Dachauer attended St. Ignatius College Prep. Upon graduation, he entered the Jesuit Novitiate at Los Gatos in 1948.

Fr. Dachauer’s studies took him to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, and Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. He taught chemistry at St. Ignatius Prep (1955-56) and then went to Fordham University where he received his doctorate in chemistry in 1961. Theological studies were made at Alma College in Los Gatos, and he was ordained a priest in San Francisco in 1964. Upon completion of training, Fr. Dachauer was assigned to the University of San Francisco, where he taught in the chemistry department with great success and was an effective resident counselor. For some years he served as assistant director of USF’s Institute of Chemical Biology.

Starting in 1965, Fr. Dachauer did summer pastoral work at the Catholic church in Lee Vining, in the eastern Sierras, assisting the veteran Jesuit pastor of Mono County, California. In 1983, upon his retirement from teaching, he assumed the pastorate of the church, now relocated to Mammoth Lakes, and its mission churches along Highway 395 in a parish covering more than 1200 square miles. He retired to Sacred Heart Jesuit Center in Los Gatos in 2010.

Fr. Dachauer was known for his active, hands-on approach. He enjoyed working with tools and doing things for others, whether graciously hosting a parish event or a meal for friends, or decorating the community Christmas tree with his specially chosen ornaments.

Fr. Dachauer is survived by his brothers, James and Paul Dachauer, his sisters Anne and Mary Dachauer, and his sister-in-law Marilyn Dachauer.