Harold Lawrence “Bunny” Donnelly Jr

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Category: Obituaries

Created on Wednesday, 07 January 2015 13:01

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Harold Lawrence “Bunny” Donnelly Jr., a lifelong Sitka resident, passed away in his home on Jan. 2, 2015. He was 78.

A celebration of life and potluck will be held 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, at the Presbyterian Church. Those attending are encouraged to take a dish to share.

Bunny was born in Juneau on Aug. 30, 1936. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1958 and served two years – he had fond memories of his time stationed in France.

After retiring from the U.S. Forest Service, he served on the Shee Atika Corp. Board of Directors. He had only recently retired.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Jane DeArmond Donnelly; his sister, Josephine, who was his twin, but died shortly after birth; and his parents, Harold L. Donnelly Sr. And Florence (Hayes) Donnelly.

Both of Bunny’s parents were born in the Haines area and met as orphans in an orphanage. They both attended Sheldon Jackson High School and were married shortly after graduation.

Bunny shared with his father a love of sports, especially basketball, baseball, and the New York Yankees. His mother was his biggest fan and never missed a game that Bunny played.

A devoted son and brother, Bunny spent lots of time visiting with his mom and sister, Eva. They shared a love of fish, herring eggs, and other traditional Native foods. 

Bunny and his wife, Jane, met in 1949, when the DeArmonds moved across the muskeg from the Donnelly house. At that time, Jane was just the “pesky friend” of his little sister, Eva. As he got older, his perspective changed and after Jane moved back to Sitka in 1973, they began a courtship and were married on June 1, 1977, at the Presbyterian Church in Sitka.

Jane was the love of his life. He often spoke in amazement about their powerful connection. He cared for her lovingly through her illness until she passed away in 2006.

Bunny was a supportive father and grandfather. His favorite thing to do was to watch his children and grandchildren participate in sports, especially basketball, baseball, and track and field. He traveled countless times to watch them at Little League All Stars games, swim meets, basketball tournaments, and wrestling matches. He was the most enthusiastic of fans – something he inherited from his mom, Florence, who was considered by some to be the all-time No. 1 fan of Sitka sports.

He was very supportive of his daughter, Dawn, especially when she wanted to join Little League, and they weren’t allowing girls to play. He and Jane fought for her right to play and then never missed one of her games. He helped her to be competitive with the boys by playing catch with her almost daily. At that time, there was a lot of heckling coming from the stands as some weren’t liking the idea of a girl playing with the boys. Bunny always encouraged her to “be tough” and “hang in there,” and she did, largely because of him.

Bunny’s love of the New York Yankees was passed down from his father to Dawn and eventually to his grandchildren. In 2008, he and Dawn traveled to New York to watch the last Yankees/Red Sox game played at the old Yankee Stadium. The next year, he added two of his grandsons to the mix and went to watch a Yankees/Red Sox game in the new stadium. It was one of the highlights of his life.

Another highlight was being the captain of Sitka’s 1954 state championship high school basketball team. It was the one and only time Sitka high had taken state in any sport – until his grandson EB’s high school baseball team took the title in 2005 and 2006. He got to see one last state championship victory this last year (2014) when his grandson Fred’s baseball team took state here in Sitka.

Because of their love of Yankees and sports in general, Bunny had an especially strong bond with his first-born grandson, EB. They called each other often to talk sports. He took great pleasure in helping EB financially when he got into college.

Bunny was friendly and outgoing; always laughing and making new friends.

He is survived by his sister, Eva Cici of Sitka; son Dusk Bigelow of Hawaii; son, Rand Bigelow of Virginia; daughter Dawn McClung of Sitka; daughter Heather Madaffari of San Diego; and sons-in law Brent McClung of Sitka and Rico Madaffari of San Diego.

Surviving grandchildren are: EB Crow of Montana, Zoey Bigelow of Juneau, Fred Elliott of Sitka, Bradley Ross of Sitka, Brandon Ross of Sitka, Bryan Joseph of Sitka, Paisley Madaffari of San Diego, and Siena Madaffari of San Diego.

Also surviving are numerous nieces and nephews and many relatives in the Haines area.

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