Obituary of Rev. Donald Edward Donahugh

Rev. Donald Edward Donahugh, 88, passed away March 9, 2024. 

Visitation: 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, 2024 at Thompson's Harveson & Cole Funeral Home, 4350 River Oaks Blvd.   

Mass of Christian Burial: 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at Holy Family Catholic Church.   

Interment: 10:00 am. Thursday at Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. 

Born June 2, 1935, in Chicago, IL to Agatha and James Donahugh, he attended Quigley Preparatory High School in Chicago and both St. Ambrose College in Davenport, IA and Loras College in Dubuque. He completed his theological studies at St Paul Seminary in St Paul, MN, in 1962 and was ordained at St Bridget Church in Groves Park on May 26, 1962.  He later earned a master’s degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC and a Master Certificate from the Air Force Institute of Technology in Berkeley, CA where he learned about “all the new things from the Second Vatican Council” he says.

Fr. Don served several Parishes in the Rockford Diocese and stints at Boylan Central Catholic High School and St Edward Catholic High School, as well as serving as the director of religious education for Auroa Central Catholic High School. He then joined the Air Force and served as a Chaplain from 1969-1987 going from Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama to Omaha, Fort Worth, Houston, Dayton, Wichita Falls, San Antonio and overseas in Turkey, Taiwan, Guam, Vietnam and Germany. In 1975 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for Outstanding duty performance at Carswell Air Force Base.

He cared for his aging mother in Germany, but when she needed surgery returned to the US in San Antonio. Fr. Don received a humanitarian assignment to Wichita Falls for a year to allow him to care for his mother. He resigned as a Lieutenant Colonel after 17 years of service.

After his retirement he remained in San Antonio, working as a Chaplain at Santa Rosa Hospital after receiving permission from his Bishop in Rockford so he could keep his mother in a warmer climate. Meeting a religious sister at a convention in San Antonio, she convinced him to come to Port Arthur’s St Mary Hospital which desperately needed a Chaplain. He agreed to come for one year and stayed for 20 more.

In 2011 after retiring from St Mary he moved with his newly widowed sister to Fort Worth where she worked as a nurse. Fr Don continued to stay active in Fort Worth helping where he was needed.

Survivors: Sister, Mary Mulkay, Fort Worth; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews; and a host of friends.