Emily Charles Donahue's Obituary
Emily Charles Donahue, of Rehoboth Beach, DE, and formerly of Chevy Chase, MD, died peacefully on February 12, 2023, after a long illness. Emily was born in Washington, DC on July 19, 1935, to John Francis and Margaret Clopton Donahue. Emily grew up in Washington and Chevy Chase and attended Blessed Sacrament School and Georgetown Visitation.
In 1957, Emily graduated from Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY, where she majored in Russian. As a result of her Russian language skills, Emily was offered and accepted a position with the Central Intelligence Agency, but her tenure there was cut short by a car accident that left her severely injured. After months-long treatment in Terracina, Italy, then Georgetown University Hospital, Emily worked in the office of Edward B. Bunn SJ, the President of Georgetown University.
In 1960, Emily married Kevin P. Charles. They began their family life in Washington but moved to Chevy Chase in 1962 where Emily lived until 2018. Throughout those years, Emily was an active member in the Chevy Chase Garden Club; an avid tennis player, swimmer and hockey mom at the Chevy Chase Club; a member of the Children of Mary Sodality at Stone Ridge; a member of the John Carroll Society; and a Dame of the Order of Malta. She was the consummate volunteer at Stone Ridge and the Landon School. As a fourth generation Washingtonian, Emily took a keen interest in history and politics and for many years served as precinct co-chair for the Montgomery County Republican Committee. Emily was a lifelong parishioner of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament where she volunteered as a CCD teacher, sang in the church choir, and served as a Eucharist Minister and a lector.
Emily loved to travel and made special trips with each of her children: Greece and Turkey with Mimi; Russia with John; and Norway with Kevin and Brian. She visited Medjugorje multiple times in the 1980s. As a Dame of Malta, Emily made annual trips to Lourdes with Les Malades. While on safari in Africa, Emily serendipitously met distant Clopton cousins who convinced her to attend the 2014 Clopton Family Association reunion in Long Melford, UK. Over the years, Emily made return trips to Terracina, Italy to visit the medical staff who assisted in her recovery, and to reconnect with her dear friend Andrea Zegarelli, the policeman who rescued Emily and her friends from the wreckage of the car accident. Andrea and Emily continued a long friendship and hosted each other’s children and grandchildren in their home countries as recently as 2015.
For all of her world travels, Emily’s favorite place was the family home in Rehoboth Beach. She was happiest tending her gardens, reading on the porch or the beach, entertaining family, hosting Manhattanville friends for their annual Beach Week, and swimming in the Atlantic (the colder the temperature, the better). A kid at heart, Emily’s greatest joy was sharing her love of Rehoboth with her grandchildren, who were the light of her life. She would spend hours at the Henlopen Acres Beach Club helping them build sandcastles and teaching them to ride waves, then coaxing them to nap under the umbrella. Emily relished taking them to Funland to go on the rides and play the arcade games, followed by ice cream or Dolle’s popcorn on the Boardwalk. We will be eternally grateful that Emily was able to spend the last years of her life in Rehoboth in the home she loved.
Emily was preceded in death by her beloved parents, her adored brother John F., Jr., and her former husband. She is survived by her daughter Mimi Charles Brault (Jim) of Beverly Shores, IN; her sons Kevin P. Charles, Jr, of Cabin John; John D. Charles (Erica Antonelli) of Chevy Chase; and Brian J. Charles (Orapin) of New Paltz, NY; her five grandchildren Charlie, Jeb and Will Brault and Evan and Raemi Charles; her sisters-in-law, Marilyn G. Charles of Miami Shores, FL, and Moira Charles Hegarty of Savannah, GA; and many cousins, nieces and nephews of the Donahue, Clopton and Charles families.
We would like to thank the staff at Capital City Nurses, Coastal Home Care and AccentCare Hospice, who attended to Emily over the years, but our special thanks go to Sharon Patterson who so lovingly and tenderly cared for Emily in her final months.
A funeral Mass will be held at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament on Saturday, March 25 at 11am. Family will greet friends at the Church beginning at 10am. Please wear bright, spring colors because Emily couldn't stand black.
Rather than flowers, as much as Emily loved them, kindly consider a donation in her memory to:
Georgetown Visitation,1524 35th Street, NW Washington, DC 20007, Attn: Advancement Office.
Support Our Aging Religious: https://soar-usa.org/giving/
Also please consider Trinity Missions Supporting our Aging Religious: https://trinitymissions.org/general-donation/
Please sign the virtual guestbook located on the tribute page.
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