William Daniel "Dan" Donahue

Dan passed away peacefully at his home in Arlington, Virginia on Sunday, April 26, 2026 with his loving wife and friend of 42 years, Nancy Iacomini, by his side.

Dan was born to Betty (Florence Elizabeth Stubenraugh) and George Donahue on August 25, 1941 and became the eldest of 11 siblings. He was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first living in the Hill District before moving with his family to the suburb of Dormont where he served as an altar boy at St. Bernard’s and graduated from Dormont High School.

Dan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1959 with his mother signing his papers because he was still underage at the time. He served 4 years on active duty in both the States and overseas in Okinawa and the Philippines. Upon discharge in 1963, he served 2 more years in the reserves. After the Marines, Dan settled in Arlington, Virginia.

Dan had a long career in telephonic communications – beginning with the C&P Telephone Company and later its successors Bell Atlantic and Verizon. He started as an installer, climbing poles in Washington, D.C. in the 1960s. While raising his family and working, he attended evening classes and earned a BA and an MBA degree from George Mason University. He worked in switching in Washington, D.C. and became a manager and later was instrumental in the development of the systems known as WITS and BAOSC.

Upon retirement from the phone company in 1991, Dan became a contractor and worked for various companies, including the Austrian Post Office and Telephone in Vienna, Austria. This assignment provided him the opportunity to enjoy travel to many of the major cities in Europe in the company of his Austrian colleagues.

Dan was an enthusiastic and devoted coach of Arlington Little League Baseball and Arlington Football. He particularly loved coaching his football team weekday evenings in the Fall. He could be seen pacing the sidelines at the Saturday games and adjusting the plays with his assistant coaches. In 1994, Dan and his assistants, including his long-time friend, Jake Dziekowicz, lead the Arlington Bulldogs to a championship.

During his time in the Marines, Dan learned refrigeration and a smattering of construction techniques and electrical and plumbing repair. This gave him the confidence (maybe over confidence) to build an addition to his first Arlington home, as well as to a second home, and finally to gut and restore his third home. (He fortunately got better each time.)

Always a proud Marine, Dan was a faithful member of American Legion Post 139 and served for many years as their Finance Officer. He was passionate about the mission of the Legion and its service to the community. In 2019, he was part of the Post leadership team that reimagined the role of the Legion Post home in Arlington. The Post partnered with a local affordable housing provider, True Ground, on an affordable apartment project (with Veteran preference) that

included a new Post home for the Legion two blocks from the Virginia Square Metro Station on the Post’s land.

As an active member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, Dan enjoyed serving as a member of the St. Joseph’s Ministry. He was always available to help with handyman tasks around the church (he was a little grumpy about plumbing), work with the church’s team on the annual Rebuilding Together community project, and teach youth how to use power tools before mission trips.

In later years he discovered the joy of sculpture and ceramics at NOVA, enjoying time there with other “senior” classmates, particularly his great friend, Stephen Kohashi. Dan also began to study ikebana and was able to enrich his flower arranging practice by making suibans in the ceramics studio.

Dan’s strong work ethic, his desire to always be helpful to anyone he met – friend or stranger, and his good humor often punctuated with corny jokes and sayings, will be deeply missed.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by sons Sean (Kristin) and Patrick (Kim), 4 grandchildren – (Sean) Emma, Kate, Brynn and (Patrick) Evan, remaining siblings George, Kathleen, Coleen, Marty, Brian and Matthew, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to acknowledge the care given to him by Goodwin Hospice, particularly Robyn and Arnisha, and the aides from Assisting Hands – Mekdes and Hyatt.

His funeral service will be held on Saturday, May 9, 2026, at 11am, at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Arlington.

In lieu of flowers you may donate to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church – St. Joseph’s Ministry or Youth Mission Trips.