Bob Houlihan, who worked for more than 30 years at Molloy University after retiring from the NYPD, dies at 81

Bob Houlihan had a way of making people feel like they could call him for anything.

It did not matter if they were locked out of a car, needed a ride late at night or just needed someone to talk to, said Dayna Russo, a close colleague at Molloy University.

"Anything that you needed from him, he would drop everything on a dime," Russo said.

Houlihan, a former NYPD detective, coach, athletic director and longtime vice president for student affairs at Molloy, died of esophageal cancer on June 8 in Vero Beach, Florida, at 81.

In more than three decades at Molloy, Houlihan helped shape student life far beyond athletics. He started what is now called the Student Success Fund, which helps students cover emergency expenses. He received the Rockville Centre university’s President’s Medal in 2013, and the court at Quealy Gymnasium was named for him in 2024.

Still, friends and former students said Houlihan, formerly of Malverne, was remembered not for any single title, but for how available he made himself to students.

At orientation, he would give students his cellphone number and tell them to call if they ever needed help. His son, Jay Houlihan, assistant director of public safety at Molloy, said his father often meant that literally.

"I will come pick you up," Jay Houlihan recalled his father telling them. "And he did that many, many times over the years."

Helped students in need

Matthew McLeod, a former Molloy basketball player, assumed the number Houlihan gave students at orientation was probably just an office line. Years later, he found himself in a dire situation.

An adviser had told him he was six credits short of graduating. His basketball scholarship was nearly up, and a delay could have affected his plans for dental school.

"I was distraught," said McLeod, now a dentist in Florida. "The first call I made was to Bob."

Houlihan told him, "Come to my office, we’ll figure this out," McLeod recalled. He helped McLeod find a weekend class and track down Advanced Placement credits so he could graduate on time.

"It was really his number," McLeod said. "He was very truthful to his words."

Susan Cassidy-Lyke first met Houlihan at 16, while playing basketball for Hicksville's Holy Trinity High School at a Molloy tournament. She later enrolled at Molloy and played softball for him, learning quickly that his expectations extended beyond the field.

"He always preached right from the beginning about how important it was to make sure you go to school," she said. "Sports would be secondary."

Cassidy-Lyke said Houlihan was tough and funny, but players never doubted he believed in them.

"He had so much confidence in you that you would exude confidence in yourself just based on him," she said.

Janine Biscari, who succeeded Houlihan as vice president for student affairs, said he had the same gift with colleagues. After she interviewed for one Molloy job in 2011, Houlihan tapped her for another role where he thought she could have a broader impact.

"He knew your potential before you even knew it," Biscari said.

Quiet helper

Biscari said Houlihan’s help was often quiet. After he died, she learned he had driven several athletes to the city every week because their friend was receiving chemotherapy.

"I had no idea that he was doing that because he did it for no recognition," Biscari said. "He just did it to do good."

Born on May 11, 1945, Houlihan grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where his love for basketball began, his son said. His older brothers often took the "sports fanatic" to courts throughout Brooklyn to play. Later in life, he loved going to Nathan’s Famous in Oceanside, where he would eat and read.

Before Molloy became what Russo described as Houlihan's "second home," he spent 20 years with the NYPD, including 17 as a detective, before retiring in 1986.

Even after moving to Florida in 2018, Houlihan kept tabs on everyone. When Hurricane Milton approached Orlando, McLeod said, Houlihan texted out of the blue and offered his home to McLeod and his wife, whom he had never met, if they needed to evacuate.

Houlihan was predeceased by his first wife of 37 years, Frances Houlihan. He is survived by his wife, Maysie, his son, Jay, and daughter, Lauren. He was also a dedicated father figure to Maysie's three children, Ayelle, Michelle and Zach. A celebration of life will be held Aug. 2 at the American Legion Post in Malverne.

For Houlihan's family, his lessons were simple.

"Treat people nice," Jay Houlihan said. "It’s a two-way street. It’s always going to come back to you."