FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
More than 300 people passed through Murphy's Bar & Grill last night for the wake of Dave Donnelly. David Eith, a longtime friend of Donnelly, held a photo of them together taken more than 10 years ago at Michel's restaurant.
Donnelly’s friends
celebrate his lifeMore than 300 people gather
at one of his favorite local pubs
Last night was a time for storytelling, and that was only fitting for the wake of Irishman and storyteller Dave Donnelly.
For every tale told onstage, there was another being shared in the booths at Murphy's Bar & Grill as friends of the Star-Bulletin three-dot columnist celebrated his memory.
More than 300 people passed through the packed downtown bar while, with anecdotes and toasts, people shared the experience of knowing Donnelly through his 35 years as a columnist, as an actor and director in local theater, and in his past as a disc jockey and Mr. Checkers on the "Checkers and Pogo" children's television show.
Donnelly died Jan. 24 at age 66.
"He loved his heritage," said advertising executive Ray Sweeney, who held true to the tradition that not only the sweet stories be told.
"He spent a lot of time contradicting anyone," said Sweeney.
"About 90 percent of the people in the room had an argument with him," he said to a roar of laughing assent.
Television executive Don Robbs recalled the day President John Kennedy was killed, when he, as KPOI radio newscaster, was too stricken by the news to announce it. Donnelly, a disc jockey, "stepped up and gave it the right reading," and they shared the memory every Nov. 22 in the 40 years since.
The closest anyone came to tears was when writer Bob Dye paraphrased a well-known Irish prayer to the effect that for Donnelly now, "the wind is indeed at your back, and the sun shines warm on your face."
It was similar to a cute sentiment from the irascible Donnelly in a column: "With an Irish gift for words, you should be able to come up with something original."
Many of the memories were about good times out on the town. After a liver disorder nearly killed him, Donnelly gave up alcohol nine years ago. But he would still spend hours at watering holes around town collecting items. His daily ritual at Murphy's was to change the clock that counts down to the next St. Patrick's Day, said owner Don Murphy, who plans to attach a memorial plate to the bar stool Donnelly occupied.
A memorial to last beyond the storytelling was kicked off at the wake with a $1,000 contribution from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin accepted by Donnelly's son Brendan. A scholarship has been established at the University of Hawaii theater department. Donations may be sent to the University of Hawaii Foundation, noted as Dave Donnelly Memorial, P.O. Box 11270, Honolulu 96828.
