Visitation, Services, Wake For Jerry Donnellan

Former longtime Rockland Veterans Service Agency Director Jerry Donnellan died Friday at his home in Clarkstown. Donnellan had retired in June after served the county and countless veterans as chief of the Veteran's agency for three decades. He was 71.

Donnellan was a three-time Purple Heart recipient and Vietnam War veteran. He was extolled at his retirement in June as someone who had shown generations of returning members of the service that they can live productive lives – even if they suffered devastating injuries as he did.

A lifelong Rockland resident, he grew up along the Hudson River in Nyack before the first Tappan Zee Bridge was built. He served in the Army in Vietnam and was honorably discharged after losing a limb in combat in 1969. He spent more than a year recovering and undergoing rehabilitation.

When he completed his rehabilitation, he worked as a stage manager with Frank Sinatra and traveled all over the world.

Rockland County Legislator Phil Soskin said he is deeply saddened by Donnellan's passing.

“It’s almost impossible for me to accept that Jerry Donnellan is no longer with us," Soskin said. “He spent most of his life looking out for other veterans – men and women, young and old. We are indebted to him for the many contributions he made not only to veterans in Rockland County, but to veterans across the nation. He is a hero for the everyday soldier.”

Soskin led a ceremony on Dec. 5 where Donnellan was formally and publicly recognized for his many contributions on behalf of veterans. Soskin, a U.S. Army veteran, presented Donnellan with a Distinguished Service Award, the Legislature’s most prestigious honor.

Despite being retired, Donnellan returned to the Legislature’s Chambers just last month, on Feb. 20, to address the board during a public hearing on new laws to provide property tax assessment reductions to help vets remain in their homes and in Rockland County. The measures, proposed by Legislator Alden Wolfe, were adopted and Donnellan attended the bill signing by County Executive Ed Day just days later.

“Jerry Donnellan could always be counted on to step up and when he did, it was always so personable,” Wolfe said. “He always put a smile on your face.”

Wolfe said that while Donnellan was best known for advocacy on behalf of veterans, he was also deeply invested in the community at large and sat on the boards of numerous non-profit organizations. Wolfe served with him on the board of directors of the Rockland Community College Foundation.

“This is a significant loss and one that many of us will feel deeply for a long time to come,” Wolfe said.

There were some 30,000 veterans, many of them from World War II, when he joined the county agency, with the population now at about 10,000. In news interviews, Donnellan expressed concerns that the needs of returning U.S. veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan were being forgotten -- much like they had been for his Vietnam comrades.

"You can't eat yellow ribbons,'' he once said.

Highlights of Donnellan's tenure:

• Established the Rockland County Public Service Medal to honor those who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and in the Global War on Terror. Raised awareness about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and encouraged returning veterans to seek help and counseling.
• Started a veterans health clinic in 1996, first at the Rockland County health complex in Ramapo and now in New City.
• Helped found the Memorial Day Watchfires in 1987 as an alternative to a parade for Vietnam veterans. This became an annual tradition to honor those who never returned from war and a national event.
• Established the Rockland County Buffalo Soldiers’ Award to recognize African-American veterans.
• Opened the first homeless shelter -- Missing in America -- for veterans in Valley Cottage in the early 1990s, which has since closed and been transferred to Homes for Heroes in Tappan.
• Helped start Camp Shanks Museum in Orangetown where military personnel assembled before being sent to Europe during World War II.

His door was always open to any veteran who needed help, Day said at Donnellan's retirement.

Visitation will be held at the Joseph W. Sorce Funeral Home, 728 West Nyack Road, West Nyack, NY 10994 on Wednesday, March 28 from 2-8pm. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 29 at 11 am at the Fire Training Center on Firemans Memorial Drive in Pomona. A military graveside service will follow immediately afterwards at the Fred Loesher Cemetary at 220 Brick Church Rd. An Irish Wake will be held from 2 -7pm at the American Legion Post on Station Road in Pomona.

PHOTO: Jerry Donnellan spoke at a Feb. 20 public hearing at the Rockland County Legislature to urge passage of two laws that specifically benefited vets by reducing their property tax assessments to help allow them to remain in their homes and in Rockland County./ courtesy Rockland County Legislature