W.B. "Ben" Donahue

W.B. "Ben" Donahue of Arlington Heights Visitation for W.B. "Ben" Donahue will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, at the Glueckert Funeral Home, Ltd., 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road (four blocks south of Palatine Road), Arlington Heights. Visitation will continue from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, April 2, at St. Alphonsus Church, 411 N. Wheeling Road, Prospect Heights. Entombment will be in All Saints Cemetery, Des Plaines. Born June 16, 1916, in Fedora, S.D., to Ben and Margaret (nee Gaspard) Donahue, he died Friday, March 27, 2009, at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village. Mr. Donahue was employed by the Federal Aviation Administration for over 40 years. At the time of his retirement in 1979, he was chief of the Evaluation and Engineer Branch of the Great Lakes Region. After retiring from the FAA, Ben worked as a consultant for Sonicraft, the FAA and the Government of Kuwait. He was active at the Wheeling Senior Center where, among other activities he volunteered with the 55 Alive Program and did tax preparation. Ben was a member of St. Alphonsus Church and was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a Past Grand Knight. His survivors include his children, Virginia Wells of Arlington Heights, Kathy Plump of Portland, Ore., Peggy (John) Kolanko of Pittsburgh, Pa. and Bill (Andrea) Donahue of Muskego, Wis.; his grandchildren, Brent, Michael and Kristi Plump, Allison (Josh) Stransky and Nicholas Donahue; and his siblings, LaVera Casey, Madonna (Don) Scott, Ardell (Beverly) Donahue and Darlene (Daryl) Weable. Ben was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; his parents; brother, Bernard; and his son-in-law, William Wells. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to Catholic Charities, 721 N. LaSalle, Chicago, IL 60618. For information and condolences, www.GlueckertFH.com or 847-253-0168.