John J. Donoghue, age 94, passed away on May 15, 2013. He was a resident of Key Biscayne, FL since 1955. J.J., as he was known, was born in Dansville, N.Y. on July 2, 1918, and graduated from Cornell in 1940. He passed up medical school to join the Army Air Corps, the precursor to the U.S. Air Force. In 1941, Juan Tripp was looking for volunteers to join his airline, Pan American World Airways. J. J. began his Pan Am career on the flying boats out of Dinner Key that year.
He flew and lived all over the world including Rio de Janeiro, London, Berlin, and Hong Kong to name a few. Some of the trips he made were highly confidential at the time including transporting uranium out of the Congo for the A-bomb during WWII.
He was one of the many pilots for the “Pedro Pan” airlift from Cuba. In the early days of Pan Am, and along with his fellow pilots, J.J. created overseas routes, navigating by the stars. As J.J. would say in retirement, “I never worked a day in my life”. Every trip was an adventure. He flew aviation history, every aircraft from the flying boats to the 747 SP with the exception of the DC3.
In 1978, J.J. retired to Key Biscayne, deciding to concentrate on his love of sailing. He was instrumental in developing the sailing program at Key Biscayne Yacht Club where he also served as Commodore. He loved dancing, parties and a good time.
He is predeceased by his son, Mike Donoghue and his wife, Anne Loughin Donoghue. J.J. is survived by his daughter, Jennifer Holloway McHugh, son, Dean Holloway, Gisele Hawkins, and grandchildren Michael and Elizabeth McHugh, Caroline Holloway, Audrey Holloway Grossclose, and great grandson, Mark Reed Grossclose.
In Lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, www.cff.org. For more information, please call 305-363-2325.