Obituary

Remembering Jack McDonough: Public servant and community volunteer

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Jack McDonough, 84, left, with his grandson Johnny, 7, and his wife Lucille, 87, in Frost Valley, NY in 2015.
Jack McDonough, 84, left, with his grandson Johnny, 7, and his wife Lucille, 87, in Frost Valley, NY in 2015.
Courtesy McDonough family

John “Jack” F. McDonough, Korean War veteran, former village treasurer and 26-year member of the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library board of trustees, died on June 3 after a brief illness. He was 84.

“He was one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in government and politics, without question,” said John DeGrace, former mayor of Valley Stream. “When my mom passed away, Jack was the first person to stop by my house to talk about it.”

McDonough was born on February 23, 1932 and grew up in Nassau County, in Bellerose. He served for a year during the Korean War, in 1952, and graduated from Hofstra University in 1957 with a degree in business administration. He married his wife Lucille in 1965, and the couple moved to Valley Stream that year, where they would later raise their only son, John.

McDonough was a Eucharistic Minister and a member of the Ministry of Consolation. He taught religion at the Holy Name of Mary parish.

“He was a very spiritual man,” said family friend Marie O’Connell, who was appointed as McDonough’s replacement last month on the library board.

“Our families celebrated weddings, baptisms, communions, graduations as well as birthdays together,” O’Connell said. “Uncle Jack and Aunt Lou were always invited and they were always there.”

McDonough coached little league, volunteered with the Boy Scouts of Nassau County, was a senior committeeman with the Valley Stream Republican Club, and served as village treasurer during Mayor Dominick Minerva’s administration in the late 1970s. McDonough was also an avid reader, which informed his passion for working at the library. He also enjoyed studying his family’s genealogy as a hobby.

“He was very concerned about the library moving into the technology age,” DeGrace said of McDonough, who he called a renaissance man.

Library Director Mamie Eng said McDonough was helpful as she adjusted to her position. “I was appreciative of his guidance and support when I took over as library director,” she said. “He took his duties as a trustee very seriously, but it was his love of the library, books and reading that made him such a valuable advocate for the library.”

In 1989, McDonough had one of his kidneys removed after doctors discovered a cancerous tumor, which required him to go on peritoneal dialysis, a medical alternative to cleansing the bloodstream when the kidneys fail.

McDonough’s son John, 50, said that his father’s meticulous personality helped him survive the transition to dialysis, which requires disciplined self-care.

“It never stopped him from doing anything,” John said. His father’s doctors often referred to McDonough as a star patient. McDonough often volunteered at Winthrop-University Hospital, speaking to other prospective dialysis patients about the experience.

“He made more than a full recovery,” John said of his father, who remained active and healthy for about 26 years after the surgery. John joked that his father’s golfing skills remained characteristically poor. “I used to tease him all the time,” he said. “He handled it well.”

John said he would often try to coax his father into doing things like sailing at Montauk Point and kayaking in upstate New York. McDonough’s catch phrase when declining an invitation was, “I don’t have a burning desire to do that.”

John recalled one summer when he and his father went kayaking on Lake George and the kayak flipped over unexpectedly. After that experience, McDonough no longer had a “burning desire” to go kayaking.

McDonough is survived by his wife, Lucille, of Valley Stream; his son John, of Brooklyn; John’s wife Marie; and their three children, Johnny, 7, Thomas, 5, and Eric, 5.

“I can’t tell you how much we miss him already, and how much he will be missed,” DeGrace said. “They threw away the mold when they made Jack.”