James Patrick Donovan

AIKEN - James (Jim) Donovan, 77, passed away on Friday, March 21, 2014.  He leaves his beloved wife, Sally Anne Donovan, children Kevin, Kathleen and Thomas, and grandchildren Dylan, Kyle and Jane.  Jim was born on March 22, 1936 in Mount Vernon, New York and raised in Scarsdale.  A graduate of Springfield University, he married Sally in 1959.  Jim and Sally began their life together in San Diego, eventually returning to New York and settling in the town of Setauket, where they raised their three children.  A teacher by trade, a counselor by nature, Jim’s career as an educator evolved into one as social worker and psychotherapist.  He earned his masters and doctorate in social work and began a long practice in partnership with his wife, specializing in group therapy.  In 1989, with the children grown and on their own, Sally and Jim moved north, to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and spent many of the happiest years of their lives, developing a new circle of life-long friends, opening a bed & breakfast and avidly partaking in their loves of golf and cross-country skiing.  They moved south to Aiken, South Carolina in 2003, the recent years bringing them and their children many more moments of love and mutual support.  Through all the years, Jim continued to do what he did best, provide the sensitive love, support and counseling to those around him.  He was blessed with an incisive intuition and a limitless wellspring of strength, generosity and grace – qualities that personified Jim to the end of his life.  For all who were privileged to know him and particularly those who experienced his deeply personal guidance and support, his love lives on in all of us.  In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Aiken Center for Active Seniors, 690 Medical Park Drive, Aiken, South Carolina 29801. Mr. Donovan’s online guest book may be signed at www.shellhousefuneralhome.com SHELLHOUSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 924 HAYNE AVE., AIKEN, SC To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of James Patrick Donovan, please visit our flower store.