By Kayllan Olicio
FSU alumnus Gregory T. Donahue, 23, died on Saturday, May 27.
According to his sister, Courtney McCarthy, Donahue majored in business administration in hopes of taking over their father’s welding business once he retired.
She said in email, “He loved welding and would send me photos ... every day of him sitting on some beam of a building, high in the sky.”
Donahue’s sister Katie Donahue added, “Greg knew growing up that he would have the opportunity to take that over and that is what got him interested in pursuing business at Framingham State.”
She said Donahue was a caring person and would always put “everyone before himself. ... He always had a smile on his face and knew exactly what to do to put one on your face if you didn’t already have one, which was rare when you were around him.”
Kevin Donahue, Donahue’s cousin who lived with Gregory and attended FSU, said he was always concerned with the well-being of others. “It was never about him or what he wanted. He always was concerned about the ... happiness of others whether – they were friends or strangers.”
He added, “I’ve never seen someone be so consistently positive and genuinely caring. ... Greg was the type of person that everyone needs.”
Donahue was a good friend, trustworthy and loyal. He would always go above and beyond to help the people around him in any way he could, Kevin Donahue said.
Donahue’s friend Matt Mangano, who also attended FSU and lived with him, said, “Greg would go out of his way to make sure you felt comfortable in whatever situation you were in. ... He cared more about another person than himself. ... Family and friends were the most important to Greg.”
McCarthy said Donahue would always find a way to make the people around him laugh even as a child. He would often make jokes and do impressions.
She added, “Even though he was my younger brother, I looked up to him for his confidence, and his ability to live his life to the fullest.”
Donahue grew up playing football and loved playing it with his family and his friends at FSU, according to McCarthy.
Katie Donahue said their father was one of Gregory’s biggest role models.
According to Kevin Donahue, Donahue had a close relationship with his father. They often worked together, watched football and skied.
Mangano said, “You could see where his passion and love came from with how his parents, Greg and Ellen, sisters, Courtney and Katie, acted. Their bonds were so tight and the family cared more about how everyone else was and what they needed rather than themselves. His cousin Kevin was his closest friend.”
He is survived by his parents Gregory and Ellen Donahue, his sisters Courtney McCarthy and Katie Donahue, his long-term girlfriend Jillian Flaherty, and aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.