Obituary of Richard David Donohue
Richard “Rick” Donohue, New York Giants Former Assistant General Manager dies at 75
Richard “Rick” Donohue, who retired in 2002 as the Assistant General Manager of the New York Giants, died unexpectedly at his home in Bluffton, South Carolina, on Wednesday, February 6th. Richard lived with his wife Elaine in Bergen County, New Jersey prior to moving to South Carolina in 2002.
Born and raised in the Bronx, he played his scholastic sports at DeWitt Clinton High School. He received his Baccalaureate degree from Dayton University and continued his studies at Michigan State University in educational administration. He began his athletic career as a head football coach at Buckeye H.S. in Rushsylvania, Ohio then a coach and science teacher at Bellefontaine H.S. in Ohio before entering the collegiate ranks as a freshman football coach at Michigan State working for head coach “Duffy” Daugherty. Subsequently, he was a defensive coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy working with George Paterno. He then became the defensive secondary coach at C.W. Post, and freshman coach, assistant varsity coach and recruiting coordinator for Columbia University working with his friend Bill Polian.
Donohue joined the NY Giants in 1980 as a Scout. During his 22 years with the Giants, he held several positions to include Chief Scout; Director of Player Personnel and became the Assistant General Manager in January of 1998. As Player Personnel Director, and then Assistant General Manager for the Giants, Donohue was instrumental in building a system through which several assistant coaches passed on their way to becoming head coaches, including Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, and John Fox. Donohue helped manage all phases of football operations for the Giants, including managing the draft, player recruiting, and contract negotiations. During his professional career, three Giants teams made Superbowl appearances winning the franchise’s first two of four Vince Lombardi trophies in the 1986 and 1990 seasons.
Donohue was proud to have spent his entire professional career with the Giants and prized his loyalty to the organization and his mentor, Wellington Mara. He viewed Wellington Mara as one of the most influential and iconic figures in NFL history, and he considered it a great good fortune to count him as a friend, and to work for him and the Mara family.
He was a member of the choirs of Saint Francis by the Sea, Hilton Head and currently St Gregory the Great Catholic Church, Bluffton, South Carolina. He was a wine enthusiast, loved music and an outstanding gourmet chef and enjoyed living in his community of Riverbend with his many kind neighbors and friends.
He leaves his devoted wife of almost 45 years Elaine Sintich Donohue. In addition, he leaves behind his daughter Brigid Donovan, her partner Joe Pino and her sons, Kyle and Alex; his son and daughter-in-law, Colin and Cathy Donohue and their children, Oscar, Ravenna and Cassidy, his daughter Molly Donohue, her partner Andre Dodson and her daughter Caitlin; his brother and sister-in-law Dr. Robert and Helen Sintich and their son Robert Sintich Jr. Other nieces and nephews include Joseph and James Donohue, Doris Donohue Carlson, Carolyn Sawicki, Cathy Zinn and Chuck Hollock. Richard is predeceased by his parents Joseph and Irene Donohue, a sister Barbara Jean Hollock and brother Joseph Donohue.
Father Brian Cullinane O.FM, will celebrate a Mass of Christian Burial at St Gregory the Great Catholic Church on Saturday, March 2 at 10:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Rich Donohue ’64 for UD Football to the University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469-7051.
