A foundation where donations stay local.
Fall 2021 Newsletter
Remembering Mary Wright Donnan
M
ary Wright Donnan was the wife of Hall of Fame college football coach Jim Donnan. She died in June at the age of 77 after a long battle with lung cancer.
Mrs. Donnan, as so many knew her, also was a mother,
grandmother, sister and friend. Her obituary tells us that, like her husband, she was an “avid tennis player” and “loved to sing and dance, and enjoyed painting.” But, more than that, she was the glue that kept the Donnan clan together, even as they found themselves spread across the country from the years of the hopscotching that comes for families of football coaches.
Between children and grandchildren, they literally span the United
States, from Los Angeles to Norman, Okla., to Columbia, S.C.That’s what happens when your job takes you to eight states in 31 years, as Jim Donnan’s did.
Mary Donnan stood as the constant among those ever-changing
backdrops.
“She was a special lady who loved her family
“She was a special lady who loved her family and was truly
and was truly dedicated to providing everyone
dedicated to providing everyone in it with her devotion and support,” Jim Donnan said. “Mary was a mom to many of my players over the
in it with her devotion and support.”
years, and to a lot of my kids’ and my grandkids’ friends.”
~ Jim Donnan
The Donnans’ love story began in Burlington, N.C., where they
were high school sweethearts. It ended in Athens after 60 years of marriage. Athens was, of course, Jim Donnan’s last stop in the
vagabond vocation that is coaching college football.
memorials gifts, Jim Donnan explains, “From the day my wife Mary
was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer until 4 ½ years later when
While Mary was caretaker of the family all those years, it was Jim
When asked why the family chose TCF as the recipient of
Donnan who was the nurturer the past several years as the ravages
she passed away, UCBC provided her with the care and treatment she
of cancer and COVID-19 took their toll on his wife’s health. He did
needed to have a chance to live.
not enlist help. Instead he remained there by her side daily, fetching
whatever she needed and making sure she was comfortable.
memory was to ask our friends to support The Cancer Foundation
which is an outstanding service to so many through UCBC.”
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to
The Donnan family felt like the best way to perpetuate her
The Cancer Foundation, P.O. Box 49303, Athens, GA 30604 or online at www.cfnega.org.
Since 2009, over $380,000 have been received by TCF in honor or memory of loved ones. For more information on memorial giving to
Reprinted with permission by Chip Towers and the Atlanta Journal Constitution; edited for length.
TCF, visit our website at www.cfnega.org/memorials