Obituaries today: Thomas Donoghue, 91, of Longmeadow; trial attorney, decorated Marine Corps Reserve colonel

Obituaries from The Republican

Thomas J. Donoghue

LONGMEADOW - Thomas J. Donoghue, 91, of Longmeadow, a trial attorney for more than 60 years, and a decorated retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, died peacefully at his home on Wednesday. He was born in Worcester on September 11, 1921, a son of the late William F. Donoghue and Mary Ellen (Byrnes) Donoghue. He was raised in Worcester where he graduated North High School in 1939. He received the Harvard Club of Worcester Scholarship to attend Harvard College but instead selected to accept a full scholarship at Amherst College. He joined the Theta Delta Chi fraternity, was elected president of the student council, and was inducted to membership in the Sphinx and Scarab honor societies. In July of 1942, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated in absentia with his Amherst class in February of 1943, at which time he was named The First Citizen of the College as recipient of the Psi Upsilon Prize. He completed his military studies at Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, in its reserve officers class. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in April of 1943. His subsequent assignments included Newport, R.I., and the Pacific theater of operations, where he served as an infantry officer during World War II in the battle of Okinawa. His battalion was sent to China in August of 1945 to oversee the surrender of the Japanese. He commanded the Marine headquarters in the port town of Taiku for nine months. In 1946, he returned to the United States and enrolled in Harvard Law School. He passed the Massachusetts Bar exam in July of 1948, before being graduated in September of that year. He remained in the Marine Corps Reserve in which he was promoted to a full colonel in 1967, and from which he retired in 1982. His reserve commands included the 2nd Infantry Battalion in Boston and the 25th Marines when the 4th Marine Division was reformed. He received numerous citations and decorations for his more than 30 years of military service. He commenced practicing law in Boston in 1948 with the Lee and Graham Law Firm and also served as Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County from 1953 to 1958. He came to Springfield in 1958 to join the law practice of James P. Moriarty which was later incorporated as Moriarty, Donoghue & Leja, P.C. In addition to representing several insurance companies, he became the attorney for Local 404 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1962 and was made a member of that organization. After the dissolution of the Moriarty, Donoghue & Leja firm in 2005, he joined Egan, Flanagan & Cohen, P.C., where he remained as a senior associate until his death. He was a member of the Hampden County Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Defense Trial Lawyers Association, Local 404 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the China Marines. He was a communicant of Saint Mary Roman Catholic Church in Longmeadow where he served as lector, usher and represented the parish at Loaves and Fishes. He was a member of the Saint Thomas More Society and received its award which is given to distinguished members of the legal profession. He was also a longtime member of the Colony Club in Springfield.

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