Former Governor John P. Donnelly Passes Away

John P. Donnelly, a former member of the National Press Club Board of Governors, passed away Nov. 7 after several months battling liver cancer.

Donnelly is the father of John M. Donnelly, also a former board member and Press Club officer who still chairs the NPC's Press Freedom Committee.

The elder Donnelly was a successful public-relations executive in business, government and the non-profit sector.

On the NPC board, the elder Donnelly was an ardent advocate for embracing all communications professionals as club members.

For many years, he was a lunchtime fixture at the NPC's Reliable Source's "Member's Table" in the center of the dining room.

"He believed the NPC was a big enough tent for both journalists and public-affairs professionals and that all could be welcome without diluting the fact that the club is first, last and always an organization of journalists," said his son, John M. Donnelly.

"The Club is fortunate to have had two generations of the Donnelly family serve on the NPC Board of Governors. We have benefited from their service, and we are thankful that John M. Donnelly continues to serve as chair of the Freedom of the Press Committee," said NPC President Myron Belkind.

The elder Donnelly was recruited by the White House in 1971 to lead NASA's public-affairs programs during the Apollo mission. In 1975, he received the Outstanding Leadership Medal for negotiating the public-affairs agreement with the Soviet Union for the Apollo/Soyuz mission.

Later in his career, while serving as a vice president of the National MS Society, Donnelly was a founder of Research!America, a national-advocacy organization for medical research (now the largest such organization in the country).

He also had served in top corporate PR positions at major corporations such as Texaco, Gulf & Western Industries, Whitaker Corp. and Automatic Sprinkler Corporation of America.

A New York City native, he attended Long Island University after duty in the Navy from 1949 to 1953, where he earned seven battle stars for action in Korea.

He is survived by his wife, the former Theresa Coleman; five children: Veronica, John, Matthew, Kathryn and Maureen; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandson.