Joseph P. Donahue, JR., ESQ
1925-2013
in memoriam
Joe was a prominent Lowell attorney, a founding member of our firm, and a beloved community benefactor.
A longtime resident of Lowell, Joe attended Lowell schools and was a graduate of Keith Academy in the Class of 1942. He proudly served his country during World War II as an Ensign with the U.S. Navy, and was the youngest Ensign ever assigned to command a transport ship. Following the war, Joe returned to Dartmouth College where he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics in the Class of 1946. He then attained his MBA from the Tuck School of Business in 1948. In 1952, Joe received his Juris Doctorate in law from Boston College Law School. Joe began his professional career in Dallas, Texas. He studied oil and gas law at Southern Methodist University Law School, passing the Texas Bar in 1953. He served for several years as counsel for Three States Natural Gas Inc., and continued his legal career in oil and gas law in Texas.
In 1964, he returned to Lowell to join his father and his brother in the expansion of the family law firm, Donahue and Donahue, one of the premier law firms in the Commonwealth representing clients from all over the country.
An active member of the Greater Lowell community, Joe volunteered his talents in many places. He was a dedicated patron to several charitable, educational, religious and business organizations. In the early 1970s, Joe served as the chairman of the committee which oversaw the merger of Lowell Technological Institute and Lowell State Teacher’s College into what is now UMass Lowell. He was awarded the University’s Presidential Medal for his efforts in 1976.
A longtime fundraiser for the Immaculate Conception Church and the religious order of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, he was a founding Director of the Oblate Men’s Mission Guild which raised money for the Oblates missionary work throughout the world. A past President of the Lowell Chamber of Commerce, he also directed the fundraising effort in the mid-nineteen seventies to build a new YMCA.