John Donovan - Obituary

ohn (“Jack”) R. Donovan, retired DEA agent, passed away on February 23, 2014, at the age of 82. Jack grew up in the Boston area and joined the Marine Corps. at the age of seventeen. He served in the Korean War and returned to the Boston area where he met his wife of 61 years. Jack was a police officer in the Redondo Police Department, a deputy and detective in the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, and ultimately worked and retired as a supervising agent in the DEA. Upon his retirement, Jack took up gardening, cooking, and making stained glass artwork from scratch. He excelled at all that he took on and was always happy to share his stories of his current activities, as well as his past stories of his days in law enforcement. He was a gifted story teller whose eyes lit up and his laugh erupted as he told his stories, and he had an encyclopedia’s amount of knowledge on a range of topics that he loved to share with others. Jack loved being involved in law enforcement, making a difference in his community and spending time with his fellow cops, deputies, detectives and agents. He has been described by many as an “amazing” man, a “great” cop, a great teacher, one who always did things the right way, and a good friend with a great laugh. In addition to all of the above, Jack was a dedicated, caring and loyal husband and father. Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Mary and Edward Donovan; his son, Christopher Donovan; and his brother, Edward “Teddy” Donovan. He is survived by his wife, Barbara; his three children Diane, John, and Judy; his grandchildren Michelle, Cassandra, Jack and Wiley; and his great grandchildren Jasmine and Jonathan. A funeral service will be held on Friday, March 14, at 11:15 AM at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, CA. The family invites Jack’s friends to attend the funeral service. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) and The Nature Conservancy (www.nature.org). An online guestbook is available by clicking the link on this page.