Obituary

Daniel J. Donahue, of Maple Grove, died on Monday, November 6, 2017.  He was the oldest of the eight children of John B. and Marie E. Donahue.  He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother John T. Donahue.  He is survived by his wife Gretchen and his two children (Sarah and Brendan) and his two grandchildren (Daniel J. and Alaina L.).  Dan suffered for several years from Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), and earlier this year it was discovered that he also had Lymphoma.  He died with great dignity, just as he had lived his life.

Dan served his country and his community, both honorably and proudly:  first as a seaman in the Navy, and then as a police officer, and later as a city manager and administrator.

Dan earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.  He then began his career as a police officer for the New Hope Police Department, where he served for twelve years.  Dan helped write this obituary before he died, and he stressed that he was extremely proud to have been a member of the police family, and proud of his work as a police officer and detective.

In 1976 Dan was awarded a 12-month Bush Foundation fellowship to further his studies in public administration in the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University.  This education and experience proved to be invaluable to him during his next 30 years of public service.  Even the humbling concrete student housing “apartment” that we all lived in, upon reflection, was a wonderful moment in time.  Dan spent most of the next 30 years working as the city manager for New Hope, MN.  He concluded his career working as the city administrator for Corcoran, MN.  He retired in 2013.  He remembered his many years in New Hope as rewarding and enjoyable, establishing precious friendships along the way.  He was delighted and honored to work for the City of Corcoran.  In fact, his wife is related to the founding fathers of Corcoran and Dan (at his request) will be buried in the Old St. Thomas Cemetery in Corcoran.

Dan told me that the following were some of his accomplishments in public service for which he was particularly proud:

·         In New Hope he initiated and implemented the successful construction/remodeling of the fire station, public works, city hall, outdoor pool, city parks, community gym, and the Cooper High School sports complex.

·         Partnered with a neighboring city manager to successfully merge the two city fire departments.

·         Established the Crime Prevention Fund and the Community Crime Board.

·         Was a board member of two YMCA organizations.

·         Was a founding member and served for ten years on the Board of Directors of the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute.

·         Won the National Award from the ICMA (International City/County Management Association) for the development of innovative police programs.

·         Was on numerous committees representing cities for the Minnesota League of Cities and served as a League Ambassador.

·         Was selected President of the MCMA (Minnesota City/County Management Association), and remained a life-time member

·         In Corcoran significantly updated and upgraded the civil defense and emergency management plan.

·         Extended the sewer and water system from a surrounding city into the City of Corcoran.

Dan loved his work because it provided him the opportunity to practice good governance, and to interact with the community.  He highly valued the opportunities for involvement with a large variety of professionals and professional activities.  And most of all, “the sense of contributing to good governance.”

Dan expressed to me his great admiration for the ICMA Foundation (International City/County Management Association).  He said, “They do great work educating both leaders and citizens in good governance policies.”  He would be proud if anyone desired to send memorials in his name to the ICMA Fund for Professional Management, Washington DC.

Dan was much more than a city manager.  He was a son and a husband and a father and a grandfather.  He enjoyed outdoor activities such as snow skiing and water skiing, snowmobiling and ATVing.  He sincerely cherished those years spent with his family at our lake home.  He was continuously involved in home projects, and he actually enjoyed doing most of them!  He could fix anything.  I will surely miss my fix-it guy.  He said that every trip to Brainerd to visit his son’s family, and every trip to Tennessee and then to Maryland to visit his daughter’s family were the fun times of our old age years.

He was a kind, loving, and attentive son to his mother, especially during the last ten years of her life.  He was a good husband and my best friend for 47 years.  He loved his children and grandchildren more than anything else in the world.

When the chaplain asked him which of his accomplishments was he most proud of, he answered without hesitation, “I am most proud of my family.  I will really miss seeing my grandchildren grow up.”