Former MBA Treasurer Daniel Mulvihill Passes Away

Daniel F. Mulvihill, Chairman Emeritus of Pacific Southwest Mortgage, San Diego, and former Treasurer of the Mortgage Bankers Association whose pioneering work with MBA helped make the annual CREF Convention & Expo one of the industry’s major commercial real estate conferences, died on July 1. He was 93.

Mr. Mulvihill founded what became Pacific Southwest Mortgage in 1972. “His goals were simply to provide service to his life insurance company clients, to conduct his business with integrity and to build relationships,” said his son, Jim Mulvihill. “More than anything my Dad valued people, and in doing so, he made a meaningful difference in the lives of many.”

Mr. Mulvihill was active for many years with MBA, serving as the association’s elected Treasurer in 1998 and 1999 (MBA eliminated the position in 2001). He was instrumental in bringing attention and awareness about commercial/multifamily issues to the forefront and was a frontrunner in increasing attendance at the MBA CREF Conventions and on various MBA CMF committees/councils, including its Commercial Board of Governors (COMBOG). He was also a past president of the California Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mr. Mulvihill was born on January 12, 1927, in Des Moines, Iowa, and grew up on an Irish settlement in Cumming, Iowa. His parents were James and Katherine Mulvihill; he was the fourth of eight children. He graduated from Iowa State University, with a degree in Animal Husbandry in 1949. After graduation, he served in the U. S. Army. Upon his return to Iowa he re-enrolled at Iowa State University in 1953, where he met Mary Collins. When her family relocated to La Jolla, Calif., he followed. They married in August 1955.

Mr. Mulvihill began his career in 1954 making farm and ranch loans in California for the Percy H Goodwin Co., becoming Vice President and Chairman of the Board. In 1972, he founded his own company, Pacific Southwest Mortgage, in association with Harry Collins and Willis Allen. The company continued making and servicing commercial and agricultural loans in Southern California and the Southwest. Over the years, the company moved into all facets of commercial real estate including development, asset management, property management and brokerage.

That company continues today under two separate umbrellas: Pacific Southwest Realty Services, owned and operated by Mr. Mulvihill’s son, James, and nephew, Daniel Phelan, which handles commercial loans in Southern California and the Southwest; and Pacific Southwest Mortgage, the family company, which owns and operates real estate assets and is run by his son, John.

“Dan had a keen interest in people,” Mr. Phelan said. “His compassion, generosity and willingness to lend his expertise to others flowed through all he did. He loved to laugh, sing and to be around children. A child at heart, he loved Irish jokes, lots of holiday lights, and was a notorious, creative prankster.”

Mr. Mulvihill volunteered and raised funds for numerous causes, including the American Ireland Fund, San Diego (Past President), University of San Diego School of Business Advisory Board, Chief Fundraiser of the Ernest W. Hahn Chair of Real Estate Finance at USD, a past Chairman of the President’s Club at USD, and a long-standing member of USD’s Burnham Moore’s Real Estate Center Advisory Board, which awarded him emeritus status in 2019.  

Mr. Mulvihill is survived by his wife of 62 years, Mary; his six children; and 13 grandchildren. The family asks in lieu of flowers, to consider making a donation in memory of Dan Mulvihill to St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (c/o St. Joseph’s Church 1026 N. 8th Avenue Winterset, IA 50273); or to Scripps Mercy Hospital Hospital c/o Scripps Health Foundation, P.O. Box 2669 La Jolla, CA 92038.