Dr. R.T. Donovan

Richard Thomas Donovan was born October 6, 1922 to Margaret Ellen Sweeney and Harry Benjamin Donovan in Sutherland, Iowa. He was the second of four children growing up in Jefferson, Iowa. He graduated from Jefferson High School in 1940.

In the service of his country, Richard flew 35 missions as a waist gunner on the crew of the B-24 heavy bomber Sweet and Lowdown as part of the Eighth Air Force, 389th Bombardment Group, 567th Bombardment Squadron based at Hethel Air Base in England.

Upon his return from the war, he married his childhood sweetheart, Evelyn Hoffman, on May 16, 1945 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Alton, Iowa.

Richard studied at the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa receiving his Doctor of Chiropractic degree in January 1947. In 1949 he return to Jefferson beginning 40 years of loving care to generations of patients. From 1946 through 1981 when the last of eight children graduated high school, Evelyn and Richard raised a family of eight children on the farm in Jefferson. He often commented that his children have all been successful in their own lives and remain close despite having spread out across the entire country. Evelyn and Richard loved and cared for his parents who lived in Jefferson until they passed in their mid-eighties. Along the way, Evelyn and Richard celebrated life with friends and family and danced many a night away. Together they loved life, loved family, and dearly loved each other.

Richard and Evelyn retired in 1988 and moved to Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, California. After 53 years of marriage Evelyn died in 1998. Until his final months, Richard continued to live in Rossmoor where he enjoyed 17 years of companionship with Betty Hopkins. On a daily basis, he reminded people to Keep Smiling with his signature purple cards.

Reminiscent of his telegram to his mother when his military tour ended, “Prayers Answered Tour Completed Your Wandering Boy is Coming Home Soon. Love to All” Richard Donovan peacefully left his well lived and full life on November 23, 2016. As he said often “I did it my way and I’d do it the same way.”

Richard Donovan is preceded in death by his parents, HB and Nell; older sister, Harriet Seymour; grandson, Phillip Cyreacus Donovan; youngest child, John Phillip O’Donovan; and his beloved wife, Evelyn Hoffman. He is survived by his sister, Barbara Hacking of Milford, Utah; brother, Dr. John G. Donovan of Carroll, Iowa; seven children: Patricia Larson of Washington, DC, Jane Ellen Donovan of Middleton, Wis., Tim Donovan of Montpelier, Vt., Tom Donovan of Walnut Creek, Calif., Mary Papagiannis of Folsom, Calif., Stephen Donovan of Escondido, Calif. and Joseph Donovan of Pleasant Hill, Iowa; in addition to twenty-one grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren.

A memorial mass will be celebrated December 10, 2016 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Walnut Creek, California. Interment will be at a future date at St. Mary’s cemetery in Alton, Iowa.  

Richard often remembered the many people who helped him along the way. In lieu of flowers, in your own way, please help someone else who may be in need. Cards may be sent to his family at Richard Donovan, PO Box 6433, Folsom CA 95763.