Jean Sullivan Donohoe

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts on November 4, 1930, Jean was the daughter of Daniel F. and Evelyn R. Sullivan, the youngest of their five children and only daughter.

She earned her high school diploma from the Academy of Notre Dame in 1949 and completed her business degree at Regis College in 1953. Later that year, Jean began her career in broadcasting by working as a receptionist at WHDH in Boston when it was solely a radio station. When WHDH added television programming, she moved into this new medium, ultimately appearing on “Romper Room” in local cities before the children’s series was distributed nationally.

Jean was a no-nonsense New England lady who insisted on good table manners and proper grammar. She also had a taste for the exuberant that included line dancing, Bette Midler, and her beloved husband, Frank X. Donohoe – a man who was the life of any party and a dedicated troublemaker.

A fan of on-screen mayhem, Jean would eagerly sit down to yell at the Redskins, cheer on Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry, and follow the adventures of Chucky the homicidal doll or Christine the murderous car. Frank would often call her “the bulldog,” because once she got her teeth into something, she didn’t let go.

Jean was in excellent health until about six weeks prior to her passing. Doctors and nurses told her she would be fine, though she would need to accept some help and be more careful. Jean was completely uninterested in those terms. She finished her time without pain, impatient to get where she was going, and still ordering her children around.

She is preceded in death by her dear Frank, who died in 1993, and by her brothers, Robert, Lee, William, and John. Jean is survived by her son Jeff (Kathy Frew) and daughter Jan (Charles McNamara), her grandchildren Sean Donohoe, Kate McNamara, and Nora McNamara, as well as many cherished nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Her family members are deeply thankful for her more than nine decades of fierce independence, and for a lifetime of great memories and stories. We greatly appreciate the wonderful people at JSSA Hospice, Suburban Hospital, and Maplewood Senior Living.

A funeral mass will be held at the Church of the Little Flower on Wednesday, October 12. There will be a visitation period from 11:00-12:00 and the service will begin at 12:00. A reception will follow.