Ralph Donnelly Obituary
Ralph Everett Donnelly of Grass Valley died Friday, Nov. 15, 2013. He was 89. Services will be conducted at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29, at Sierra Presbyterian Church, 175 Ridge Road, Nevada City. Mr. Donnelly was born on July 25, 1924, in San Francisco, to Martin and Anna Donnelly. He graduated from Balboa High School in 1942, just in time to enlist in the U.S.
Army Air Corp. After basic training and flight school, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and assigned as a pilot of B-24 bombers (Liberator). After being shot down on his first mission, he returned to fly another 31 missions. After World War II he returned to San Francisco to run Anna's Danish Cookie Company with his parents.
In 2000 he sold the company and retired to his home in Grass Valley. At the age of 80 he volunteered to drive for Meals on Wheels, delivering food to the "older people" (as he put it.) He retired from that position in 2013, just prior to his 89th birthday. He was a member of the Grass Valley German American Club, Nevada City Presbyterian Church, SIRS and Shriners.
He was an avid golfer most of his life. He is survived by his sons, Michael, Timothy and Kevin, 14 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren as well as his step-children Robert and Louise.
He was preceded by his first wife, Lois Gunn Donnelly; his second wife, Ursula Bertao Donnelly; and his daughter, Patricia Jane Donnelly.
