John J. Donnelly, Jr.

John J. Donnelly, Jr.

On April 3, 2016 John J. Donnelly, Jr., passed away in hospice care after a brief illness. His wife of almost 60 years, Jan, and other family members were by his side.

John was born on March 2, 1937 in Albany NY, the only son of John J. Donnelly, Sr., and Elizabeth M. Brecht. He attended LaSalle Institute in Troy, NY and Siena College in Loudonville, NY. He majored in economics and business, disciplines that proved to be the foundation of a lifelong career and passion in Information Technology in the banking industry.

In 1955 he met Janice K. Crawmer and, after a whirlwind courtship, they married on May 5, 1956. They started their family of four children in Watervliet, NY and then moved to Latham, NY in 1965.

John was a pioneer in the field of Information Systems and Technology. He began his career at National Commercial Bank and Trust Co. in Albany NY until that bank was purchased by Key Services Corporation. He continued with Key Services and remained at the forefront in implementing the latest in advanced technical services. Following his Key Services career, he took the position of Chief Information officer and Senior Vice President at Albank FSB.

After his retirement from Albank, John continued to work as a consultant in Information Systems and Technology for the State of New York. Following several retirement attempts, he finally retired to Florida where he continued to freely and generously give his time and computer expertise to his family and friends when they needed help with their computer woes.

He and Jan fully enjoyed their retirement years in Florida. They traveled to Hawaii, Aruba, the Florida Keys, Disney, and took many cruises to islands in the Caribbean. John and Jan had a tremendous circle of loving friends whose company they enjoyed while traveling and at home. They continued to drive to Latham, NY, each summer to enjoy the company of their family and friends "up north".

John was an avid sports enthusiast. He was a season ticket holder at the Saratoga flat track for over 25 years and was a lifelong NY Yankees and NY Giants fan. For many years John was also involved in Latham Little League and Latham Babe Ruth as both a baseball coach and serving as League president. He followed all of his grandchildren in their personal endeavors and successes, athletic and non-athletic.

In early 2013, he started on his own personal journey of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. He embarked on a weight loss program after exploring bariatric surgery options. He realized that he could accomplish his weight-loss goals the old-fashioned way: through diet and exercise. He faithfully counted calories and started on an exercise program of walking, and he accomplished his goal of losing 175 pounds in less than two years. He faithfully walked 5 miles a day to maintain his healthy weight until he became ill in late February 2016.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Janice; daughter Deborah Luby and husband Paul of Stafford Springs, CT; daughter Jean Barstow and husband Brew of Portland, ME; son Michael J Donnelly and wife Joan of Wynantskill, NY; and daughter Karen Donnelly of Latham, NY. He is also survived by 7 grandchildren: Paul Jr, Marcella, and Connor Luby of Stafford Springs, CT; Tricia (Barstow) Rose of Portland, ME; and Gary, Joseph and Kelly Donnelly of Wynantskill, NY.

The family would like to acknowledge the excellent care John received at the Indian River Medical Center as well as the kind and compassionate staff and volunteers at the VNA Hospice House of Vero Beach, FL. Visiting hours will be on Saturday, April 30, 2016 at Bowen and Parker Brothers Funeral Home in Latham NY from 9:00am – 11:00am with a service at 11:00am. A gathering celebrating John and his life will follow at the Colonie Elks Lodge in Latham.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the VNA Hospice of Indian River County, 1110 35th Lane, Vero Beach, FL 32960.