William Franklin Donnell

William Franklin Donnell was born in Dallas, Texas on May 26 1933 the son of Robert Malcolm Donnell of Young County, Texas, and Elisa Yvonne Donnell of Eagle Pass, Maverick County, Texas. Bill was the youngest brother to his sisters, Mary Elise and Pauline Belding. He grew up in Dallas and attended Highland Park High School and Southern Methodist University, where he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in electrical engineering. At SMU, Bill joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and was elected as its president.

While at SMU, Bill met Doris Lillian Hamm; they were married on May 22, 1954 at Highland Park Methodist Church. Later that year, the couple moved to Washington D.C.; Bill joined the Air Force and Doris worked for the U.S. Army Security Agency. In the Air Force, Bill achieved the rank of lieutenant. In May,1956, they welcomed their first son, Malcolm; Bill's career then took the family from D.C. to go to work for Texas Instruments in Dallas, where their second son, James was born.

In 1966, Bill accepted a new job at Tracor Inc. and the family moved from Houston to what was then the small town of Austin. Bill worked for decades at Tracor, working on projects such as the aircraft flares designed to protect military jets and helicopters from enemy fire and the electronic warfare systems used in Blackhawk helicopters during the Gulf War/Desert Storm. He worked on weather measuring probes for NOAA and helped develop navigation systems in an era before GPS existed.

Bill made many good friends at Tracor and the Donnells would take family vacations with other Tracor families including the Catons, the Creels, and the Williams.

Bill was an exceptionally intelligent man, a gifted engineer, and a hard worker. While the details of his work for Tracor were confidential and over our heads anyway, his abilities were amply demonstrated by his rebuilding the engine of our 1967 Mustang, fixing each of our cars, and fixing every sort of hot water heater, oven and other appliance.

He loved to work and after retiring from Tracor at age 62, he worked for TesCom, a telecom company in Austin until he was 73.

He was a great teacher and he patiently helped his sons learn math and physics, taught students how to fly gliders, and acted as a mentor to the young engineers who worked for him. He was a devout Christian and took his family to church each week. At age 72, he became a Eucharistic Minister in the Episcopal Church.

He loved flying airplanes and would fly the family in single engine Cessnas from Austin to the Texas beaches. He would also take his sons up in the gliders he flew over Central Texas- soaring up on thermals in engineless sailplanes.

He and Doris loved to travel and went many places. They took their children on trips each year including ski trips to Red River New Mexico and beach trips to South Padre Island. Bill and Doris especially loved Hawaii.

In their last decade of life, Doris and Bill moved from Austin back to Houston, close to their son Malcolm, daughter-in-law Sandy, and granddaughter Elizabeth. Bill and Doris had been together almost 70 years when Doris passed away last year. Thereafter, Bill spent his final year of life living with Malcolm, Sandy, and granddaughter Paulina, who along with Sandy's family, provided him with love and wonderful care.

Bill is survived by his sons, Malcolm (Sandra Donnell) and James, his granddaughters Elizabeth and Paulina, his grandsons Cameron (Jessica Donnell), Travis and Andrew, his great granddaughter Eugenia, and his nephews and nieces Nancy Hannan, Kathy Thompson, Mark Akin and Robert David Neff.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday April 26th at 3:00 p.m. at The Memorial Oaks Funeral Home, 13001 Katy Freeway, in the Texas Liberty Mausoleum near Reflection Lake. A reception will be held following the service at the home of Malcolm and Sandra Donnell.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Pastor Bart Dye, Alive Church of God 7623 Louetta Rd. #106 Spring TX