Donald F. Fennessey, of Portsmouth RI, passed away peacefully at the age of 100 on October 28th at St. Elizabeth Manor in Bristol, RI.  He was born on May 7, 1920, the son of James F. and Anna (Mulholland) Fennessey, in Northampton MA, before becoming a longtime Pelham MA resident.

He graduated from Northampton High School in 1939.  For him, growing up in Depression-era Northampton was a boy’s dream, full of pranks, sledding, fishing, exasperated storekeepers, and tolerant police officers.  He vividly recalled the flood of ’36 and paddling the streets to do rescues by canoe, and as a Boy Scout escorting Grace Coolidge, wife of President Calvin Coolidge, to an official function.

A member of The Greatest Generation, he hitch-hiked cross country and studied aeronautical engineering at Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in Glendale, CA, but wanted to serve more directly in the war, and transferred to the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY.  He survived three days in a lifeboat after being torpedoed off the coast of Brazil on his cadet cruise.  He was commissioned as an engineering officer in January 1944.  He served on tankers and Liberty ships, sailing around the world for the remainder of the war and beyond until 1946, reaching the rank of Lieutenant Commander and title of Chief Engineer, accumulating adventure tales for a lifetime.  Always quick to deflect praise for his wartime service, he would say that the true heroes could be found at the bottom of the sea.

After the war, his engineering expertise took him first to Hartford Steam Boiler Insurance Company and then as a field engineer for the E.I. du Pont Company’s Engineering Division.  He relished every day on the job which took him all over the northeast and overseas.  He retired from the company in 1985, rich in accomplishments, devoted colleagues, and friends at vendor companies he had visited.   

In January 1948 he married Louise “Pat” Macpherson of Lee, MA, and they proceeded to fill their home in Pelham with children: Donald B. Fennessey of Portsmouth, RI, Neil M. Fennessey South Dartmouth, MA, the late Deborah J. Fennessey and Joanne F. Cole of New Gloucester, ME. He was loudly and boundlessly proud of them, his six grandchildren and one great granddaughter.  Widowed in 1978, he led a full and active life at the top of Pelham Hill for almost 40 more years before moving to Rhode Island in 2014, where being close to family and the sea was a gift late in life.

He had many hobbies including collecting antique cars, collecting guns, target shooting, and fishing.  He became a private pilot who enjoyed buzzing his house early on Saturday mornings.  He was an accomplished photographer with his own darkroom.  An avid golfer, he even got a hole in one.  He was an active member of the Masons, Shriners and especially Jesters, and enjoyed ‘re-fighting the war’ at AmVet and Legion halls wherever his travels took him.  He particularly enjoyed surprising his family by making unannounced visits to California and overseas, even into his 80s, and delighted in spiriting grandchildren away for ice cream or other forbidden treats.  There wasn’t much he didn’t try during his life and acknowledged that he had a great ride.  He was fond of saying, “If they screw me into the ground tomorrow, I’m still ahead.”

He will be remembered for his generosity, his kindness to everyone he met, his flair for story-telling, and especially for his sense of humor, resilience and indomitable spirit, right up until the end, living life with grace and without complaint.  The example he set in life has been inspirational, and he will be missed more than he ever could have imagined.

His family is very grateful for the staff and residents of Atria Aquidneck Senior Living where he lived happily from 2014-2018, and for the compassionate care he received at St. Elizabeth Manor and from Hope Hospice. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Shriners Hospitals for Children or Hope Hospice in Providence.  Interment in Pelham’s Valley Cemetery will be private.