DONOVAN, THOMAS A. (Age 81)
Thomas A. Donovan, 81, formerly of Accokeek, Maryland, passed away at his home in Coker, Alabama on February 12, 2000.
Mr. Donovan, a World War II veteran, was attending the University of Chicago when he was drafted in 1942. He attended Cryptographic School and Officer Candidate School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, after which he was discharged to accept a Commission as Lieutenant in the Army. He served in the European Theatre as a Cryptanalytic Officer and Historical Editor.
Upon being honorably discharged from the Army in 1946, he was appointed to the Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer. In the following years he served abroad as Third Secretary-Vice Consul at Prague, Czechoslovakia; Economic Officer, Second Secretary-Consul at The Hague, Holland; Political Officer-Consul at Frankfort, Germany; Political Officer First Secretary at Warsaw, Poland; Political Officer at Berlin, Germany and Principal Officer-Consul at Khorramshahr, Iran. While in the US, he served as International Relations Officer, Office of Polish, Czech and Baltic Affairs, Bureau of European Affairs; Public Affairs Advisor, Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs; Intelligence Research Specialist and Foreign Affairs Political Analyst, Office of Research and Analysis for Western Europe, Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
After retiring from the Department of State in 1969, Mr. Donovan was active in various conservation and political organizations in Prince George’s County and the metropolitan area. He was the author of several articles published in The Washington Post and the Foreign Service Journal, and he traveled extensively in the US, Canada and Europe.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease in 1994, Mr. Donovan participated in an NIH Alzheimer’s research project in an effort to contribute to the understanding and treatment of this disease.
Mr. Donovan’s survivors include his wife of 37 years, Margaret J. Donovan of Coker, AL; two children, Thomas E. Donovan of Astoria, NY and Antonia Bookbinder of Accokeek, MD; two grandchildren, Eliana and Jeremy Bookbinder, and a sister, Kay Donovan of Berkeley, CA.
Services for Mr. Donovan will be held in the Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery on June 14, 2000 at 1 p.m.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard