Michael Joseph O'donnell

O'DONNELL

MICHAEL JOSEPH O'DONNELL

Michael Joseph O'Donnell, 71, passed away on Thursday, June 16, 2022, with family around him, in Alexandria, Virginia.



Mike was born on October 16, 1950. He was in the first graduating class of Saint Louis Catholic School. He attended Gonzaga College High School and Washington and Lee University where he played linebacker on the football team and graduated in 1972 with a degree in history. His life-long passion for Civil War soldiers and their artifacts began when he kicked up a Minie ball bullet on the Saint Louis playground. After college, he purchased an early, home-made metal detector and began "hunting" on the Wilderness, Chancellorsville and Bull Run battlefields, and vast Civil War campsites in Stafford, Orange and Franconia, as the land was being cleared for suburban development. A lifelong Virginian, Mike said he could still see the trenches and felt the presence of those who fought and died there. He became an authority on Civil War buttons, buckles, artillery shells and insignia, and published many books describing and cataloging them, doing the writing, photography, layout and design himself. Mike, a natural raconteur, said "just make it interesting." He captivated nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters and others with his colorful historical stories. For at least the last two decades of her life, Mike took over the personal care of his mother, Dorothy Krafft O'Donnell, who predeceased him by six months in December 2021 at age 103.



He is survived by nine siblings, Mary Beth, Dorothy (Steve), Jack (Lynn), Denny (Shirley), Chris (Debbie), Patty (Richard), Mark (Susan), Regina (John), and Ellen (David), and numerous nieces, nephews and friends. His brother, Timothy, predeceased him by three months.



A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at Saint Louis Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia, on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. Burial will take place at Chestnut Grove Cemetery in Herndon, VA on Thursday, June 30, at 9:45 a.m. In lieu of flowers, a memorial gift may be sent to Saint Louis Catholic Church at https://saintlouisparish.org/.