John J. Donahue LTC US Army (ret)

John J. Donahue, Lieut. Col. U.S. Army (ret.), 86, of Worcester, died Christmas night, at the UMass-Memorial Medical Center after a short illness surrounded by his family.

Jack was born in Worcester on February 1, 1936, son of Francis T. and Edith T. (McElligott) Donahue. 

Jack was predeceased by his parents, his daughter Kathleen Donahue Jones, and his sister-in-law Patricia Foley.  He is survived by his beloved wife of 62 years, Judith Nolan Donahue; two sons, Michael J. Donahue of Chicago, and Timothy F. Donahue and his wife Christine Iacobuzio Donahue of New York City; a son-in-law Leonard M. Jones of Honolulu; three grandsons, Lee Jones of Honolulu, Tim Jones and his wife Cori of Westbrook, Conn., and Theodore J. Donahue of New York City; his brother  Joseph T. Donahue and his wife Marion of Brunswick, Maine; and several nieces and nephews.

Jack grew up in Worcester and graduated from Sacred Heart Grammar School, St. John's High School, and the College of the Holy Cross.  He later earned a Master's Degree from the University of Southern California.

After Holy Cross, Jack taught at Sutton Memorial High School and became Chair of the Science Department.

When he was age seventeen, he joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard where he went on to earn his commission graduating from the Massachusetts Military Academy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis arose when he was teaching at Sutton and he volunteered for active duty.  He was assigned to Ft. Knox. Ky. to attend the Armor Officer Basic Course after which he served in Germany with the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor, 4th Armored Division.

Following his assignment in Germany, Jack was assigned to Ft. Campbell, Ky. where he commanded a Basic Training Company.

With tensions increasing in Viet Nam, he was sent to the Special Warfare School at Ft. Bragg for training as a Military Assistance Advisor and subsequently served with the Vietnamese 8th and 14th Armored Cavalry Squadrons.

After his first deployment to Viet Nam he attended The Armor Officer Advance Course at Ft. Knox, Ky. and then served in Germany as a Troop Commander in the 14th and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiments.

Jack's military career included three tours of duty in Viet Nam where he received three Bronze Stars with Valor, multiple assignments as a student, instructor, department head, and executive officer for combat units at Fort Knox, a year learning Arabic at Fort Ord, Calif. before being assigned as a military advisor in Saudi Arabia, and finally a tour at the recruiting command at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.  Jack retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1984 and returned to Worcester in 1986 where he worked for the Department of Social Services until he retired in 1997.

Jack was an active member of the Worcester community upon his return from his time in the Army.  He was a member of the Armed Forces Committee in Worcester, the Worcester Club, the Bohemian Society, and could be found at any number of events at his alma mater, Holy Cross. 

The funeral will be Saturday, April 15 with a Mass at 11 a.m. in St. John’s Church, 40 Temple St., Worcester.  Burial with military honors will follow in St. John’s Cemetery. There are no calling hours.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. John’s Food for the Poor, 44 Temple St., Worcester, MA 01604.