Former HPD chief Lee Donohue dedicated 40 years to the force
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2004
Honolulu Police Department Chief Lee Donohue.
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2004
Former Police Chief Lee Donohue, left, with his grandson Trey Donohue, then 12, and son Sgt. Lee Donohue Jr.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / 2004
Then-Honolulu Police Department Chief Lee Donohue is honored at his retirement ceremony. Seated next to him is his wife, Lucille. The 40-year police veteran died Sunday at age 80.
Former Honolulu Police Chief Lee D. Donohue died Sunday morning at Straub Medical Center following an extended illness. He was 80 years old.
HPD Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan announced Donohue’s death Sunday afternoon in a statement: “On behalf of the officers and civilian employees of the Honolulu Police Department, I extend our deepest condolences and sympathy to the Donohue family. Chief Donohue was known as a ‘cop’s cop’ and for being a strong, decisive leader. We will miss him and are blessed to have had a very wonderful and passionate Chief.”
Born and raised in Honolulu, Donohue joined HPD in 1964 and worked his way up the ranks to become HPD’s eighth chief of police, a role that he occupied from 1998 to 2004.
Donohue’s daughter Leanne Donohue-Williams recalls that her father loved being a police officer and set his cap on the job early despite pressure from his mother to get into commercial real estate.
“His mom was a Korean picture bride and she had some plans for him,” Leanne Donohue-Williams said. “She had apartment complexes on Kuhio Drive in Waikiki, and he used to help. He said he told her to sell them because he wanted to be a police officer.”
Donohue-Williams said her father loved his job, and took his role in community service seriously, but was also a good husband to his wife, Lucille Park Donohue, his childhood sweetheart, whom he met at church.
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“They were married 64 years,” Donohue-Williams said, adding that the couple attended Holy Nativity Church and were active in the community together.
She said her father also was a great dad who involved his children in his interests, from martial arts to nonprofit work.
“Whatever he was involved in, we would be involved in, too,” she said. “He would take time to listen to us, just like he took time to listen to the community. His death was a great loss not only for our family, but also the island.”
Donohue served HPD for 40 years and, according to a biography posted on the department’s website, is credited with “guiding the department into the 21st century.”
HPD said the department during Donohue’s administration was awarded national accreditation. HPD said he “replaced the department’s outdated radio system, expanded community policing, and acquired bullet-resistant vests and automated external defibrillators.”
Donohue also is credited by HPD with improving hiring and retention efforts to bring the shortage of Honolulu officers during his time to an unprecedented low.
“In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Chief Donohue provided a calm, steady hand as police across the nation shifted focus to anti-terrorism and heightened national security,” HPD said.
HPD said Donohue worked with thousands of at-risk youths through Kick Start Karate, an organization that he co-founded to teach martial arts and life skills. He established the Honolulu Police Community Foundation, which promotes positive community-police relations and provides financial support to HPD. Donohue also was a longtime board member of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, which helps visitors in crisis.
Jessica Lani Rich,VASH CEO and president, was crying Sunday as she recalled Donohue’s contributions to her board, and a friendship that spanned about 20 years.
“Lee, over the years when he attended VASH board meetings, was always low-key, but he was a very powerful person,” Rich said. “He was a dedicated and hardworking board member who made a difference.”
Rich said Donohue often went out of his way for VASH, and said it touched her heart when he recognized the nonprofit at the Honolulu Police Community Foundation to make sure that police officers and the public were aware of the work that VASH does.
“There is only one Lee Donohue, and he will truly be missed,” she said.
Donohue-Williams said funeral arrangements are still pending.
Donohue is survived by wife Lucille Park Donohue and their children Donohue-Willams, Darlynn Donohue and Lee Donohue Jr. He was preceded in death by his son Steven Donohue.
Donohue is survived by eight grandchildren, including Trey Donohue, Kalee Donohue, Kimberly Maxile, Jeffrey Williams Jr., Karlee Gonzales, Jaymee Williams, Steven Donohue and Morgan Donohue. He had 14 great-grandchildren, including one who preceded him in death.
