Posted by Terry Powers on January 27, 2023:

PATRICK J. DONOHOE 1949 Cullum No. 16805-1949 | May 7, 2008 | Died in Annapolis, MD Interred in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA Patrick Joseph Donohoe was born in Columbus, OH, the oldest son of John Patrick Donohoe and Alice Fitzpatrick. His father was born in Manchester, England, and came over to the United States when he was a young boy. Education was stressed in the family of three children, and Pat excelled in academics as well as in sports, growing up in Cleveland, OH. He attended St. Ignatius High School, was president of his class and played football, baseball and hockey. Upon graduation, Pat received a Congressional ap­pointment to West Point. The United States was still at war when the Class of 1949 entered West Point in July 1945. Bobby Jack Stuart roomed with Pat all four years and said that Pat was "easy to teach the problems we face and tried to make Catholic Mass every morning before reveille." He also "loved his family: moth­er, dad, brother and sister. Pat was a great roommate and would do anything to help...he even drove all the way to Oklahoma after graduation, just for my wedding." He did well academically and played baseball, football and hockey and served as an acolyte and missal reader. Pat enjoyed other ath­letic activities, but his great­est love was playing four years of Army Hockey. One of his classmates, Wayne Norby, mentioned that "Pat was a very good defenseman, a smart hock­ey player" and that "he was always concerned about doing everything he could to protect our goalie, class­mate Ray Moss." Another classmate, Gene Mechling, mentioned that Pat "was a solid mainstay on a fine team that beat Princeton, Harvard, the Royal Military Colleges of Canada, and others. His hockey days in Cleveland came to the fore." Gene also stated that Pat was not only an "all-around athlete" but "conquered academics with ease and graduated 33rd in a Class of 573." Upon graduation, the Howitzer noted that his "ambition in life is to have six boys for a whole hockey team." He did eventually have six children, five daughters and a son. Pat also demonstrated his leadership ability at West Point by tutoring math to his classmates. The Howitzer noted that "P.J. always had such high ideals that many of us were continually going to him for advice." After graduation, Pat married his beau­tiful bride, Jane Middleton of Ridgewood, NJ. He began his career in the Army Corps of Engineers and started a family, only to be interrupted by the start of the Korean War in 1950. Pat served as a young lieutenant with the 65th Combat Engineer Battalion and was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Upon returning from Korea, he and his family moved to Ft. Leonard Wood. He was then transferred to Salzburg, Austria, and also served a tour in Stuttgart, Germany. After his assignments in Europe, in 1957 his wife and now four children moved to Boston, where he attended MIT and received his master's degree in civil engineering. In 1958, Pat was assigned to the Pentagon and remained in Virginia until another tour in Korea three years later. During this tour, the family moved to San Jose, CA, where the last of his six children were born. Upon his return, Pat earned his master's degree in math­ematics at RPI in 1963. He was then assigned for four years to West Point, where he taught math. Pat enjoyed this and was a mentor, not only in the classroom but outside the classroom. There were many occasions in which he had young cadets and officers over to his quarters on Beauregard Circle and Lusk. After a memorable tour at the Academy, Pat, now a full colonel, and his family moved to Munich, Germany, where he commanded the 3rd Engineer Battalion (24th Infantry Division). The 24th later was relocated to Ft. Riley, KS. After his battalion command, Pat was reassigned to the Pentagon and in 1969 was placed in command of the Bikini Atoll cleanup operations in the Pacific. In 1971, he served a tour in Vietnam. Shortly after returning from Vietnam, Pat retired from the Army but continued to work, teach­ing math at O'Connell High School and at the Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy. Pat had his priorities right and focused his life on God, family, country and his love for teaching. His family was important to him, and he always stressed education and faith: Pat's children and his 11 grandchil­dren are all college graduates. He also had a love for math and, along with the Bible, kept a book of math logic for daily reading. Besides having a deep faith and love of family, Pat loved his country. He flew the flag daily outside his house and supported our military men and women. His comput­er desktop had the West Point logo, and he had West Point license plates. Having a car with these plates made it even more inter­esting, since Pat and his wife, Jane, decided to retire in Annapolis, MD, home of the U.S. Naval Academy! The one thing he enjoyed doing the most was teaching. He led by starting a math study group as a cadet at West Point, teaching math again to cadets years later as a professor at the Academy, and teaching math at a high school after he retired from the Army. He was a men­tor to hundreds of young men and women. Classmate Gene Mechling mentioned that Pat was the "kind of man, husband, grandfather, and patriotic example that any parent would want their boy to become in this life. Pat fulfilled that role...but not without Janie at his side." Another classmate, George Crall, stated that "He was a good friend." As written in the Howitzer, classmates, students, family and friends can still get Pat's "advice with his high ideals" by looking at his life as father, friend and mentor.

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