1. John Donohue lived a steadfast life, doing his duty without seeking recognition. As a young boy, both his parents died and he was separated from his brother, facing many hardships. 2. John served faithfully in the Union army during the Civil War to protect his brother, and was wounded multiple times. He worked for 40 years despite suffering from various war-related illnesses. 3. John remained committed to his family and faith throughout his life, even in the face of tragedy and hardship, exemplifying steadfastness and doing what is right no matter the circumstance.

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John Donohue and Friends: In what does greatness consist?
In a recentlypublishedbook,HIMSELF,JohnDonohue playedakeyrole inthe life of the protagonist,
PatrickDonohue,hisyoungerandmore spectacularandemotional brother. Forinstance, Johnwas
everybitas gooda baseball playerbut withoutthe flashof hisbrother.Thatelementinhischaracter
oftencausedJohnto go unnoticedthroughouthislife.
Steadfastnessindoingonesdutyisseldomnotedtillthe elegistisforcedtothinkaboutthe boring,fade-
away personinthe casketbeneathhim. Ata funeral massof a classmate, acurmudgeon priest,Kevin
O’Neill, musedabouthisfortyyearfriendship withTedRog.Tedhad beenapriestforfifty-one years.
KevinrecountedthatTed enactedhispriesthoodprettymuchthe same waydayin and dayout. He got
up early,prayed,celebratedmass,andwentabouthisdutiesaspastoror teacherwitha freshnessthat
came fromhis faith, hisunshakable desire toserve,andhissense of humor. Thenone day at seventy,
he retiredbutkeptdoingthe same workin the same way as before,justnow withoutportfolio.When
cancer struck at seventy-seven,he made littlefussoutof the dyingprocess,usinghislastdaystomeet
withfamilyandbrotherprieststoexpresshisgratitude fortheirmanyhappydaystogether.
Once again,I was struck bythe fact that the people Icome toadmire mostare those whostuck with
theircommitmentsovermanyyears. Theirhiddenstrengthsandgoodness dawnon me only at the end
of theirlives.
While apriestinOlean,NY, I broughtcommuniontoHugh Laughlin onFirstFridays.Hughhad a stroke
twentyyearsbefore andhadbecome a complete invalid.Hiswife,Mary, fed,clothed, bathed,toileted,
and otherwise tendedhimeveryhourof every dayfromthenon.She didit with suchease,grace,and
goodhumor I barelynoticedherministrations whileIhungaround to chat withthisamazing woman.
Andshe receivednothinginreturnbecause Hughcouldbarelythinkanintelligent thoughtorpronounce
an intelligibleword.
I gave my parentsmuchtrouble inmy firstthirty-five yearsbuthave come torealize theygave me all the
opportunityI needed,more thanIdeserved,because theymaintainedastable home life forforty-five
years. Theywere notperfectpartners.My fatherwasespeciallydifficultformymotherto abide by,but
she didand he was by herside faithful ineverywaythroughseventeenyearsof cancer.He diedtwo
yearsafterher because he couldnotlive withouther.
Nowback to JohnDonohue,mygreatuncle…Johnknew tragedy,usuallyinthe formof death,fromage
seventoseventy-three.Atseven,bothof hisparentsdiedinacholeraepidemicinRochesterandhe and
hisbrotherPatrickwere broughtto Buffalo in1849 by a grandmother,Maire Joy.She soonlearnedshe
couldnot feedboth boys,whocomplainednightlyafterdinnerthattheywere still hungry.She chose
Johnto farm outto an aunt. It crushedhimto be forcedout of the home of hisbrotherandhis awesome
grandmotheronlyayear afterlosinghisparents.
Johnleftschool afterthe sixthgrade andwentto workat fourteenshovelingcoal frombarge todock,
sixty-sixhoursaweek.Heavyworkfashionedapowerful manoutof a skinnyboy.He waitedtoenter
the Unionarmy until hisbrotherreachedeighteen,andthen in1862 withPatrick he joinedanall-Irish

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regiment,the 155th
New York Volunteers.He waswounded inhisveryfirstmajorbattle atSpotsylvania
Courthouse inMay of 1864 and was offeredapermanentfurloughfromservice.He came home fora
six-weekconvalescence butreturnedtohisregimenttoprotecthisbrother. He learnedhow tosurvive
inthe nearcontinuousbattlesof Grant’sOverlandCampaign rightthroughtoAppomattox.Thisismore
notable since the lastseveral months,promotedtocorporal,he wascolorguard for CompanyI and a
glaringtargetacross everyfieldhe foughton.John’scaptainandsergeant testifiedoverand overagain
intheirdepositionsinsupportof John’spensionclaimsthat Johnwasa skilled soldierwhosavedmany
inCompanyI. Hisbrothertoldhisgrandmotherthe firstnighthome he owedhislife tohisbigbrother.
Upon discharge,Johnreceived a$2 pensionforhiswound.He believedhe neededmuch more to
supporthisfamily. He hadmarriedJohannaMahoneyin1868. A firstson,Michael, wasborn in1871 and
dieda yearlater.Of his fouradultchildren,twodied of TBbefore he did.
Johnworkedas a weighmasterandbridge tenderforfortyyears bearingupundermultiplewar-bred
illnesses.He returnedfromthe Civil Warwithrheumatism, pneumonia,adamagedandpermanently
painful shoulder,deafnessinhisrightear,andblindnessinhisrighteye,heartpains,scurvy,andheart
disease. Whenexaminedbyapensionboard in1906, the physicians alsodescribed himashaving
disease of the kidneys,missingmostof histeeth,stooped, withcatarrhandbronchitis. From1877 to
1906, he pursuedpensionincreasesseventeentimesbeforephysicianpensionboards.Finally,he
received$8just before he diedin1914.
Each board examnotedJohnneitherdranknorsmoked.Inthat, he had little company inthe IrishFirst
Ward of Buffalowhere he livedthroughouthisadultlife.He wasstill workingatage sixty-fivetosupport
three grandchildren.One of them,James, isseen withhiminthe photo below.

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Johnwas a lifelongactive memberof the GrandArmy of the Republic,aveterans’organizationsimilarto
today’sVFW, organizedtofightforveterans’housingandpensions.The GARplacedaheadstone onhis
grave or likely,itwouldhave gone unmarked.
He remained alifelongCatholic,hisfaithnodoubtplaying arole in hissteadfastcharacter.
Marriagesare oftenformedinthe heatof passion. Nodoubt,JohnandJohannafell madlyinlove asa
prelude totheirmarriage. The testof a marriage liesinthe commitmentof the partnerstomake it work
longafterpassionfades andtragediesandclashes abound. Forforty-five yearsJohnandJohannahad
more than theirshare.
How longdoesan individual’sinfluence last? Behaviortraitsare passedondownthroughseveral
generationssaysMurrayBowen, the founderof FamilySystemsTheory, forbothgoodandevil. Weirdly,
I discoveredinresearchingHIMSELFthat a few of my grandfather’smore volatile traitssliddownthe
decadestome. John’sdescendantsascomparedtoPatrick’sshowedadecidedtendencytouse
educationtoreach highercareergoalsanddemonstrate commitmentand stabilityacrossgenerations.
One became a police captainand another,supreme-courtjudge.Thoughthree timesasnumerous,
Patrick’soffspringdisplayedlittle careerachievementbeyondheavylabororlow-endservice jobs.Many
repeatedPatrick’spenchantforalcohol abuse.
Of whatdoesgreatnessinlife consist? Unquestionably,manyhuman traits.The greatestof these is
steadfastness, the capacitytokeep learning,maturing, anddoingwhatisrightno matterthe
circumstance. Manyyears ago,I sat throughthree yearsof moral theology delivered byanotedBelgian
theologian, FatherLouisJansens.Louis builthis book-lengththeory of moralityaroundasingle virtue,le
choix fundamental, one’shard,fast, andenduringdecision todowhatisgood andright.From that
momentitinformsoureveryact. That was JohnDonohue personified.
SubmittedbyWilliamJ.Donohue
October2015
Wdonohue1@verizon.net,716-626-9445