Edward Thomas McDonough III, coroner
He was born on January 11, 1954 in Rochester, New York, the son of Drs. Edith (Buchanan) and Edward McDonough, Jr. He graduated from McQuade Jesuit High School in Rochester, Springfield College (MA) and New York Medical College at Valhalla. Edward completed a residency in pathology at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut and fellowships in forensic pathology at Dallas County and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He worked as an assistant forensic pathologist, then deputy chief of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington, Connecticut, from 1986 to 2009. He also taught courses in death investigation and forensic nursing at Quinnipiac University and the University of New Haven. In 2009, Edward moved to Lewes and worked for the Delaware Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.
Edward was predeceased by his first wife, Catherine Doherty. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Kathleen Johnson McDonough; daughter, Heather Hoagland (Chris) of Monroe, CT; her daughter, Christine McDonough DeVries (Brett) of Milford, CT; a daughter, Sarah Johnson of Northampton, Mass.; son Ben Lovelace (Sarah) of Moretown, VT; grandchildren, Kay Hoagland and Beckett Lovelace; and her granddaughter, Andy Lovelace. Edward’s four siblings survive him, Kevin (Sherri) McDonough, Kathleen McDonough Layton (Brendan), James (Patricia) McDonough, and Mary McDonough May (Michael); and sister-in-law Jean Donlon (Stephen). He will be missed by his beloved cousins, nieces and nephews.
Edward was a kind, generous and principled man, who did the right thing even if it was difficult, and taught his family to do the same. Family came first. His generosity extended to others in the volunteer work he did, driving for Meals on Wheels, participating in food drives, and being part of Code Purple at St. Jude the Apostle Church last winter, even after receiving another difficult diagnosis. His motto was “to participate fully in life,” and he did just that, holding a stick in one hand and a bocce ball in the other. Another ad was “XLNT” when he was happy about someone’s accomplishment.
Friends will be received at 10 a.m., Friday, September 29, at St. Jude the Apostle Church, 152 Tulip Dr., Lewes, followed by a Memorial Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Edward’s honor to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, P.O. Box 212, Wilmington, DE 19802, lls.org.
Sign his online guestbook at parsellfuneralhomes.com.
(Tags for translation)Edward Thomas McDonough III
