VLS Mourns the Loss of Retired Staff Member Mary A. Confoy O’Donnell
The Villanova Law School community mourns the loss of Mary A. Confoy O’Donnell, retired assistant to former Dean J. Willard O’Brien. On Tuesday, March 27, O’Donnell passed away at the age of 89 in Newtown Square, PA.
Before arriving at Villanova, O’Donnell was a secretary at the law firm of Scnader, Harris, Segal & Lewis in Philadelphia, PA. She then began her career at Villanova Law School in 1975 as an Administrative Assistant. Professor John Dobbyn remembers O’Donnell as "an absolute mainstay for this law school during its formative and growing years under the founding Dean Harold G. Reuschlein and then Dean J. Willard O'Brien. She was a steadying force, a source of limitless information, and a great friend to administration, faculty, and students. At a time when administrators were scarce, she was the go-to person for me as well as the rest of the law school, and above all that, she was one of the warmest, kindest, most genuinely friendly people you could meet on this planet. God love her - I'm sure he does."
After retiring, Mrs. O’Donnell was a volunteer at the St. Raphaela Center in Haverford, where she had attended annual retreats for 54 years. In addition to spending summers with her family in Ocean City, NJ, O’Donnell enjoyed traveling the world with her husband reaching such destinations as Alaska, Wales, Hawaii, Scotland and Ireland.
Mrs. O’Donnell graduated from the former St. Leonard’s Academy in West Philadelphia in 1940 and attended Peirce Business School.
Mrs. O’Donnell is survived by her husband Joseph, daughters Patricia Byrne and Sharyn O’Donnell, her son Kevin, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
