Patrick O'Donnell Jr.

Patrick O’Donnell, Jr., of Kinnaird’s Point in Worton, MD, passed away August 29, 2023. Patrick was born at the Fort Dupont base hospital on February 17, 1929, the son of the late Patrick Sr. and Sallie Miller O’Donnell of Delaware City. Growing up, he was active in Boy Scouts, becoming an Eagle Scout, a Sea Scout, and, later, a Camp Rodney counselor. He graduated from Henry C. Conrad High School in 1947 and married classmate Shirley Stewart in 1952. He joined Delaware’s first Air National Guard Unit, the 142nd Fighter Squadron, was a Korean War Air Force veteran (1951-53) and a life member of the Disabled American Veterans. After receiving B.A. and M.Ed. degrees from the University of Delaware and an M.L.S. from Drexel University, Pat became a school librarian, then a library supervisor for Delaware school districts. Newark was the family home from 1960 to 1986. He was president of the Newark Lions Club and the Delaware Library Association, and a member of the National Library Association and the Delaware Association of School Administrators. In 1986, Pat and Shirley built a home in Kinnaird’s Point, where they made lasting friendships. Pat became an instructor and crewman in Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 1904 and joined the Rock Hall Yacht Club, the Kent County Historical Society, the Kent County Library, and the Friends of the Miller Library of Washington College. After retiring from the Christiana School District in 1990, Pat enjoyed playing golf and traveling with Shirley in the US and Europe. They discovered and visited his father’s birthplace in Roundstone, Galway, Ireland, where he met first cousins he never knew he had. Pat was a friendly, small-town boy who remembered Delaware City in many stories and was quick to find mutual acquaintances among people he had just met. He had a fondness for printed maps, keeping a stack by his chair for reference. A stray cat, Jazzy, was initially banned from the house, but soon found a place inside on Pat’s lap. Pat was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley; sisters, Margaret Miller and Sallie Crews; and brothers, Frank, Benjamin, and Lewis. He is survived by his son, Craig P. O’Donnell and wife Mary Kate of Delaware City, and his daughter, Anne S. O’Donnell of College Park. Please make a memorial donation to the Animal Care Shelter for Kent County, 10168 Worton Road, Chestertown MD 21620. (https://acskc.org/support/general-donation) Interment to be in the Delaware Memorial Veterans Cemetery.

Patrick O'Donnell Jr.

February 17, 1929 - August 29, 2023