Donahoe, Ned 1914-2000

DONAHOE, MARSH

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 1/14/2017 at 13:09:48

PostBulletin.com--St. Charles

NED DONAHOE

ST. CHARLES -- A memorial service will be held for Ned Donahoe at 2 p.m. Friday at Hoff Funeral Homes-St. Charles Chapel with the Rev. Jeff Forbes officiating.

Mr. Donahoe, 85, of St. Charles, a former theater director and teacher, died March 6 at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rochester.

He was born Aug. 20, 1914, in Wilmington Ill., and grew up in Jacksonville, Ill. In 1936, he graduated from Illinois College with a bachelor of arts degree, received a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1946, and in 1952 received a Ph.D. in drama and speech from the University of Illinois-Urbana. Mr. Donahoe was a radio announcer in Rock Island, Ill., in the the 1940s. He married Esther Marsh in 1940. They were active in the civil rights movement in Memphis, Tenn., working with voting rights and desegregation.

He received his professional theater training at Goodman Theater-Chicago Art Institute, Uta Hagen Studio in New York City, Helen Brown Ried in Chicago and Sage Fuller-Flores in Madison. He taught or directed theater at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Purdue College in Illinois, Moline College in Memphis, in Bennington, Vt., and at San Francisco State and Grinnell College in Iowa. After his wife's death in October 1985, he moved to Minnesota to be near his family. He led reading groups at Madonna Towers and Charter House in Rochester and Whitewater Healthcare Center in St. Charles. Along with his son, the Rev. Scott Donahoe, he directed plays at the Blue Moon Coffee House and during Gladiola Days in St. Charles.

Survivors include a daughter, Nan Donahoe of Houston, Texas; three grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. His son also preceded him in death.

Friends may call an hour before the service Friday at the funeral home.