WATERTOWN, NY — Rae Donoghue, passed away peacefully on Friday, May 27, 2022, at the Samaritan Summit Village Nursing Home, and her family is grateful for the excellent care she benefitted from as a long-term resident.
Rae Ann was born Feb. 19, 1934, in Watertown, NY, to the late J. Raymond and Helen (Snider) Linehan. She graduated from Watertown High School in 1951 and thereafter attended the University of Rochester. She was a longtime active member of the Beta Sigma Phi Sorority as well as the Watertown League of Women’s Voters.
Rae’s early career began at the Agricultural Insurance Company, and she taught a home-based preschool for a period of years while her own children were young, though she spent most of her working life as the Executive Director of the Jefferson County Unit of the American Cancer Society.
She was also an active communicant at St. Patrick’s Church, where she enjoyed serving as both a Lector and as a Eucharistic Minister.
Rae and Charles Carroll Donoghue were married on June 5, 1954, in Holy Family Church. “Charlie” died on Aug. 10, 2004. They had been married for 50 years.
Her only sibling, John Michael Linehan, passed away in 2021.
Rae is survived by her four children, Mary Fraser (Brian), Rodman, NY, Charles P. Donoghue, Watertown, NY, Margaret “Peggy” Gross (Ronnie), West Orange, NJ, and Kathleen “Kate” Boragine (Brendon), Franklin, MA.
She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren, Emily Tufo Heise (Erick), Erin Tufo Felice (Nick), Kyle Fraser (Jennifer), Christina Gscheidle, Jonathan and Ryan Donoghue, Hannah and Ethan Gross, Nabeel Abualniaj and Lina Boragine, as well as many nieces and nephews. Rae was the proud great-grandmother to six adored great-grandchildren, with one more on the way.
Arrangements are being handled by Reed & Benoit. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 2, at St. Patricks Church. Interment will be at Glenwood Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation made in Rae’s memory to St. Patrick’s Church, 123 South Massey St, Watertown, NY 13601, or the Alzheimer’s Association act.alz.org
Online condolences may be made at www.reedbenoit.com.