William "Bill" Donohue

I genuinely loved this teacher. He was a terrific and I have fond memories from his class. On one occasion we had a lengthy discussion on Guayabera shirts, he mentioned how much he liked the style. I bought him one for Christmas that year. He smiled so brightly,. What a lovely man he was. I can´t imagine the loss you must feel. Teachers like this are such a treasure. God bless you and rest well Mr. Donahue.

Tribute to Mr. Donohue (Bill). Mr. Donohue taught my Humanities class from 1969 to 1970 at McLane High School. Room A8, Mr. Donohue´s classroom, holds memories of my fellow students sitting in the hardback desk chairs facing Mr. Donohue, whom I found a fascinating teacher as he taught us to think critically. One of my strongest memories of class materials remains Dante´s Inferno. Bill unpacked the symbolism and challenged us to rethink our convictions in light of Dante´s approach to the...

I was in Mr. Donohue's English class on November 22, 1963, when Mr. Easterbrook, the principal, announced the news from Dallas. I´ll never forget how Mr. Donohue let the class go quiet. There was nothing to say. He just stared out the window overlooking the quad, taking off his glasses to dab his eyes. Sad day that changed us all. I loved his class.

Best teacher ever! Demanded a lot. Made you think.

Of all my teachers, there were none who even came close to impacting me like Mr. Donahue. My Logic and Clear Thinking teacher at McLane in 1979-1980. He was bigger than life to me. I was in awe, and "in puppy love". He was so tall, with perfect posture. He was intimidating and arrogant, but I adored his clever sense of humor. As a silly 16 year old, I would often say, "Oh my God"...and Mr Donahue would say, "Yes?".... sending me into giggles. How I loved his grin, his and his sarcasm. I´ve...

My name is Melissa Manning. I was fortunate to be in McLane´s first honors English class taught by Mr. Donahue in 1965-66. While answering a question one day, Mr. Donahue kept interrupting me, saying, "What about...?" I said if he would stop interrupting me, I would answer fully. He just sat back in his chair and said, "Continue, Miss Brown." It was the first time I realized I could stand up for myself respectfully and the world didn´t end. It was an epiphany for me and influenced my...

Mr. Donohue was my 11th grade Honors English teacher, and one thing I'll always remember about him, was the way he said the word schedule. He'd say "shedule." He challenged me to give more in class than I was willing to at the time, and I appreciated that. Will Shirley - Bullard High class of 1992

Mr. Donohue was the best teacher I ever had!!! "He made us think" is what I put on the brick I donated to the Fresno State's education department "Wall of Fame" in his name. Look for it. I thought of him for many, many years, went to go see him a couple of times, and prayed for him often. I was class of 1969 at McLane (but he told me once when I went to visit him that 1968 was his favorite class.) My daughter also had him for English at Bullard. She loved him, too.

Mr. Donahue was my honors English instructor at McLane in 1969. He was the best teacher I ever had. I was inspired by him to become a high school English teacher in SanDiego.He made literature come alive.