Christopher McDonnell Obituary

Dr. Christopher F. McDonnell

11/04/1933 - 10/31/2023

Christopher Festus McDonnell, age 89, of Toledo, Ohio passed away peacefully on October 31, 2023. He was born November 4, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York to Thomas and Nora McDonnell.

His family moved back to Ireland when he was 14 where he attended St. Joseph's Patrician College in Galway (The "Bish") after he was unable to attend the local Jesuit school because he did not speak Gaelic. He went on to study medicine at University College Galway.

Chris met his future wife, Tess O'Halloran, in 1955. She lived across the street from his parents' pub in Galway City. Having become smitten with her after spotting her in the neighborhood, he asked his cousin, who was her friend, to arrange a meeting. They married in London in 1960, and in 1964 moved to Toledo, Ohio where Chris did his anesthesia residency at Toledo Hospital. Being good Irish Catholics, they had five children within seven years.

He worked as an anesthesiologist at St. Charles Hospital until his retirement.

Chris's medical training was of great benefit to his family. Whenever his kids approached him with an injury or ailment, be it puncture wound or broken bone, he never failed to tell them to "put ice on it." He greatly enjoyed music-particularly classical and jazz-old movies, British television shows and soccer, and was an avid reader. He was especially passionate about history and had an impressive ability to recall dates and details of world events.

Though his health had declined over the last few years, he held on, ardently expressing the wish to make it to 90. He missed his goal by four days, exiting his physical form on Halloween, a holiday he had always enjoyed (he had quite the sweet tooth.)

Christopher is preceded in death by his parents; and is survived by his wife, Tess; his brother, Tommy; his five children, Ursula McDonnell, Sonya McDonnell, Paula (Tim) Suter, Rory McDonnell and Deirdre Kennedy; and seven grandchildren, Sydney and Clare Lister, Colin and Tatum Suter, and Max, Cole and Finn Kennedy.

A memorial mass will be celebrated at 1:30 p.m. on November 24 at Corpus Christi University Parish, 2955 Dorr Street, with a reception to follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Wildwood Preserve Metropark.