Robert Emmett Donnelly Sr.

Robert "Bob" Emmett Donnelly, Sr.
Robert Emmett "Bob" Donnelly (Sr.) on 5/30/2024 at the age of 87. Husband of the late Dianna (née Voellinger) for nearly 58 years until her passing in 2016. Father to Robert Jr. "Bob" (Barbara), Steven, Lisa, Deidre, and Maura (Chris) Martin. Preceded in death by infant son Christopher; parents Arthur Morgan and Virginia Conzelman Donnelly; sisters Virginia Brennan and Margaret Hill; and brother James. Grandfather to Ryan (Christina), Blake Pugliese, Megan, Robert III "Bobby", Andrew, Max, Fiona Martin, and Kylie Martin. Great-grandfather to Jade, Ava and Lily-Rose. Father-in-law to Debbie. Grandson of the late Brigadier General Arthur Barrett Donnelly. Nephew of 1919 Rose Bowl winning quarterback and National Football League Hall-of-Famer the late Jimmy Conzelman, Head Coach of the Chicago Cardinals for most of the 1940s, including their glorious run as 1947 NFL Champions.
Bob graduated from St. Louis University High in 1955 and attended Regis College and Rockhurst University.
He and his brother Jim partnered with the late Frank C. Bick as second-generation publishers to cooperatively grow the Suburban Newspapers of Greater St. Louis into perhaps the most successful chain of free-distribution community newspapers ever seen in these United States. In their fifty proud years of ownership, the Donnelly family published twenty-five of these sister companies' newspapers in the bi-state metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri area, representing more than two-thirds of what was locally known as the Suburban Journals.
A lifelong resident of the St. Louis area, Bob spent over fifty summers in his cottage at New Piasa Chautauqua, Illinois; and more than thirty snowbird winters in Naples, Florida.
An avid boater for most of his life, he captained "Miss Print" from the headwaters of the Mississippi River through most of this country's major inland waterways and later piloted "Dianna" on many bluewater adventures. Over the years, he had been a member of St. Louis Power Squadron and United States Power Squadrons, as well as Naples Yacht Club and Naples Sailing & Yacht Club, both in southwest Florida. Following a maritime incident while arriving from international waters to Key West in the mid-1980s, Bob was thrilled to be recognized by the local population with a proclamation naming him as an honorary member of the Conch Republic.
Bob was a founding member of Skat Kitties, and enjoyed its annual and commanded tradition of entertaining his hometown for many years as a mobile unit in the Veiled Prophet Parade on the Fourth of July through the streets of downtown St. Louis.
He was always a philanthropist, yet most of his good deeds were behind the scenes and rarely for public display. Bob was the 1996 recipient of the St. Patrick Award, presented annually as the highest honor conferred by St. Patrick Center, caretakers for the homeless of St. Louis. Bob always had a great respect and a generous soft spot in his heart for first responders. The Frontenac (MO) Police and Fire Departments can confirm this generosity, just as they can also confirm Bob's mischievous enthusiasm for spontaneous late-night residential launches of commercial fireworks as an occasionally-overzealous, yet also fully-licensed pyrotechnician.
Bob spent his final years as a lively resident of The Gatesworth, and was well-known there for sharing his love of the late-summer bounty of Calhoun County (IL) peaches with a good number of his fellow residents.
Services: A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at The Church of the Annunziata, 9305 Clayton Road, Ladue, MO 63124 on Monday June 10, 2024 at 10:00 am, with visitation at the church beginning promptly at 9:00 am. Interment to follow at Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions appreciated to Wyman Center, 600 Kiwanis Drive, Eureka, MO 63025 or online at www.wymancenter.org/donate. Friends, relatives, and business associates may visit www.luptonchapel.com to offer their condolences.
A service of THE LUPTON CHAPEL, St. Louis, Missouri
(314) 721-1870