Robert J. Donohue | Funeral director, 58

Robert J. Donohue, 58, of Newtown Square, a former funeral director, died of cancer Friday, June 10, at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse in Philadelphia.

From 1976 until 2001, he was a funeral director with the Donohue Funeral Homes. The business - founded in 1898 by his grandfather, John P. Donohue - has five locations in Delaware and Chester Counties.

Mr. Donohue graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, attended Mercyhurst College in Erie, and graduated from American Academy McAllister Institute of Funeral Service in New York City.

Mr. Donohue who was found to have juvenile diabetes when he was 2, had a pancreas transplant in 2000.

Before his surgery, he was an avid kickboxer and a member of the American Bando Association, a martial arts group. In 1998, he was kickboxing champion at the Bando National in Columbus, Ohio.

He enjoyed fishing at his summer home in Ocean City, N.J., the company of his dogs, playing the guitar, vacations in Bermuda, reading, and daily trips to Wawa for coffee, said his wife, Maureen O'Sullivan Donohue.

The couple met at a drugstore in Drexel Hill, where she was a clerk, and married in 1978.

Besides his wife, Mr. Donohue is survived by daughters Lauren and Kait; a brother; and five grandchildren.

Friends may call from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, and from 9 to 10 a.m., Thursday, June 16, at Donohue Funeral Home, 8401 West Chester Pike, Upper Darby. A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Anastasia Church, 3301 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.

Donations may be made to the Delaware County SPCA, 555 Sandy Bank Rd., Media, Pa. 19063