Patrick E. Donahue

Patrick E. Donahue passed away peacefully in the company of many family members in July of 2025. He was 85. He was preceded in death by Teresita, his wife of 65 years, and Deanna (or “Dee Dee”), his younger sister.

People remember him as a voracious bookworm, a polyglot, an iconoclast, a peripatetic wanderer, a minister to others, a proud father of five boys, a storyteller, and a stickler for proper grammar.

Born in Mankato, Minnesota, he grew up in Montevideo with three younger siblings: Deanna, Kathryn, and Richard. As a teen, he chose to attend seminary in St. Paul for his freshman and sophomore years. Then he studied in Germany as an exchange student before returning to Montevideo for his senior year. That summer he went backpacking in Mexico. To his siblings, he often seemed to be more like a visitor than an elder brother.

He went to Mankato State College (now Minnesota State University at Mankato), where he met Teresita, a student from Guam. For 66 years, he has never missed any opportunity to describe her as “the most beautiful woman I had ever seen!” Upon graduation, Patrick enlisted in the army. In 1959 he and Teresita were married, against the wishes of all of their parents. Interracial relationships were generally frowned upon—illegal in sixteen states—eight years before the Supreme Court struck down such restrictions. They had to search for a priest who would marry them, as their parish priest refused.

Patrick went to the prestigious Army Language School (now called the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center) in Monterrey, California. He completed the intense training program in Mandarin Chinese, but not before a son (Thomas) was born in 1960. He received a duty station assignment in Taiwan, where another son (Michael) was born in 1961.

He was honorably discharged, and the growing family moved to Mankato. A third son (Timothy) was born in 1963 in the same hospital as his father. Patrick was accepted to the University of Wisconsin, so the family moved to Madison. While he was busily earning a masters degree in Mandarin and another in education, a fourth son (Sean) was born in 1965.

With his degrees in hand, he got a job in sales of educational materials, so the family moved to Chicago, where a fifth son (Patrick) was born in 1969. Then an attractive job opportunity arose. It required a lot of travel, as well as relocations to Bensenville, Waseca, Addison Township, and Denver. The job didn’t end there, but the family loved Denver and was not willing to move again. Instead, he had to quit when he was asked to move.

Quitting led to many years of underemployment and unemployment, which were very hard on him and required Teresita and the older boys to find work. He used his time between jobs looking for jobs, of course, but also exploring his interests in reading, real estate, wine, food service, ministry, and linguistics. Along the way, he became a French knight of the Vine, the president of the Colorado Liquor Retailers Association, a restauranteur, a travel agent, a translator, an ordained priest, a substitute teacher, and a linguist at a tech startup.

Over time, he received the gift of daughters-in-law, whom he cherished as the daughters he never had and the mothers of his grandchildren. Through good times and bad, through sickness and health, and even in turmoil, he trusted and relied on them.

In retirement, he and Teresita enjoyed traveling in the RV. Their RV friends were their main social group outside the family.

When Teresita fell ill in February of 2023, they moved to the Brookdale Meridian, where she received the kind, thoughtful, high-quality care she needed, and he resided in independent living, just one floor below her. He visited her every day for 14 months. At Brookdale, he made many friends and acquaintances among residents and staff, with whom he always enjoyed sharing stories.

He is survived by two younger siblings and their families, five sons and their families, eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and his 37-year-old parrot.

He is sorely missed, but his legacy of stories and memories endures.

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In lieu of flowers, gifts in his memory can be made to charities he supported.

Heifer International strives to end hunger and poverty while caring for the Earth by providing appropriate livestock and training to small-scale farmers and communities worldwide.

https://fundraise.heifer.org/PatrickE

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières provides urgently needed humanitarian aid in moments of crisis and conflict in over 70 countries around the world.

https://events.doctorswithoutborders.org/campaigns/PatrickE

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To celebrate his life and mourn his death, the family has arranged a Funeral Mass, a reception, and an interment ceremony on Friday, August 22nd. Guests should feel comfortable to attend any or all events

10:00 am -11:00 am

Funeral Mass

St Louis Catholic Church

3110 S. Sherman St., Englewood, CO 80113

Accessible entrance on Floyd Street

11:30 am - 1:00 pm

Reception

The Sky Room (8th Floor)

Brookdale Meridian

3455 S. Corona St, Englewood, CO 80113

2:00 pm - 2:20 pm

Interment Ceremony with military honors

Fort Logan National Cemetery

3698 S Sheridan Blvd, Denver, CO 80235

Must arrive at Staging Area (TBA) between 1:35 and 1:40 pm