James Martin

Donohue

James Martin Donohue passed away October 11, 2026, at a home he loved, surrounded by his family and his ‘forest’, leaving a legacy of warmth, creativity, adventure and accomplishment. Jim loved life!

He was born January 10,1939 in Manhattan in sight of the Empire State Building at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. He spent his youth in Louisville, KY, attending St. George’s Catholic School where he was an Altar boy. When Jim and, his brother, Peter, visited Louisville in 2009, they retraced their childhood route to St. George’s. Jim knew he wanted to be an engineer at age 5 when his interests included taking the lawn mower apart and rebuilding it.

He attended St. Xavier High School through Grade 11 where he had won a scholarship. Jim was a bright young man who thoroughly enjoyed terrifying his teachers and challenging them with difficult questions. He was raised in a household where education was of high importance - his mother was attending Law School where she was the only female in the class. She graduated when he was 12.

Jim enjoyed swimming and diving, his Ham radio, a ’50 Ford, chasing fireflies and getting into mischief with his brother, Paul.

Grade XII was spent at Coral Place High School in New York where he joined the US Army Reserve, being the youngest member of the 312th Base Post Office. Manhattan College followed graduating in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. Jim also took numerous technical and managerial courses in Pascal, Fortran, and 808X assembly while being familiar with a multitude of other languages. During his last two years at Manhattan College, he worked at the Institute for Applied Biology as a one-man engineering department doing research for electrophoresis apparatus to be potentially used for transplants.

In 1963, he married his high school sweetheart, Diana Cola, and was hired by Xerox Corporation, relocating to Rochester N.Y. Jim treasured these early years, and life with three daughters – Angela, Madeline and Linnette. Cherished memories include surviving the Rochester riots in 1964, motor home vacations, having a pilot’s license and flying to breakfast, teaching two toddlers how to swim at the ‘Y’ in the middle of winter, Christmas parties around an 18’ tree, and trips to Montauk where his mother had a summer home.

The next 32 years were spent with Xerox Corporation, becoming Vice President of Engineering in 1981. He lived and breathed electronics with many personal technical achievements, thirty United States Patents in the areas of xerography, electronics, and software. He led groups ranging from one-person focused tasks to 650 people in a multi-function, multi-program organization. Jim was the lead engineer for the world’s first color copier. He was an expert in the development and delivery of products to world-class quality standards including marketing advanced manufacturing and field support. He travelled extensively making regular trips to London and Dallas where he had employees, chalking up millions of miles on American Airlines. The Admirals Clubs treated him like royalty.

Xerox Corporation was Jim’s only employer and took him from Rochester, NY to El Segundo, CA where he lived in Los Alamitos. He married Doreen Aunet in 1992.

He loved his life in California – hiking, the tandem bike, swimming, scuba diving, snorkeling, as well as learning how to wind surf. He was an avid boater - sailing to Mexico -several times from Newport Beach to Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Ha Ha - the Caribbean, the San Juan Islands - Desolation Sound was breathtaking - as well as trips to Catalina on his 28’ Carver ‘Orca’, and the mooring on the ‘F’ Row in Avalon, just off the Tuna Club. He and Doreen were members of the Corsair Yacht Club and frequented the Long Beach Yacht Club.

Retiring from Xerox Corporation in 1995 included a move to Las Vegas. They chose Northwest Las Vegas as their home and loved it. Jim became President of the Nevada Well Owners as well as a Director of the Northwest Citizens Association. Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Lone Mountain were favorites and provided quality hiking and exploring for Jim and his beloved German Spitz, ‘Sprite’.

Favorite vacation destinations included Hawaii, Mexico - Casa Manana in Bucerias was special - and Canada.

He became a Real Estate Broker Salesman along with his wife and spent 23 years as ‘the Donohue Team’ with Prudential Americana and, subsequently, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties. He was a member of the Las Vegas Amateur Radio Club.

Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 34 1/2 years, Doreen Aunet Donohue; his daughters – Angela Sherbanee, Madeline Donohue and Linnette Jackson (Ron); grandchildren – Spencer, Brenna, Lily, Grace and Garrett – his siblings, Peter (Carol) Donohue, Florence (Stanley) Moczydlowski and Madeleine Donohue (Brian Wedge) as well as numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws, friends and neighbors.

Jim was preceded in death by his first wife, Diana Cola Donohue; a brother, Paul Cletus Donohue; Sister-in-law, Diana Hall Donohue; his parents, Florence Brady and James S. Donohue.