Paul Louis O'Donnell

Paul Louis O’Donnell
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret.)
July 24, 1938 – May 31, 2025

Paul Louis O’Donnell, husband of the late Ann Marie Bohan O’Donnell, died peacefully on Saturday afternoon, May 31, 2025, at Charter Senior Living in Columbia, Maryland.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Paul was the son of Louis H. and Dorothy E. O’Donnell, both deceased. He is survived by his siblings: David J. O’Donnell, Thomas J. O’Donnell, and Arlene P. “Patty” DiPirro.

A graduate of St. John’s High School (1956), Paul earned his bachelor’s degree from Boston College in 1961. Within three weeks of graduating, he married his high school sweetheart, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. He later earned a master’s degree in business from Syracuse University in 1974.

Paul served 22 years on active duty, including two tours in Vietnam as a Battalion Operations Officer, for which he was awarded the Bronze Star and other commendations. Additionally, he served as chief security officer for actress Lana Turner during her 1968 USO “handshake” tour in Vietnam. After his return to the United States, Paul served in the Office of the Comptroller of the Army at the Pentagon before retiring in 1983. He continued his professional career as Director of a nonprofit association in Washington, D.C.

Paul was the nephew of renowned journalists John Parsons O’Donnell, longtime Washington Bureau Chief for the New York Daily News, and James Preston O’Donnell, Newsweek’s first postwar Berlin bureau chief and author of the bestselling book The Bunker.

He is survived by his sons, Steven P. O’Donnell and Scott M. O’Donnell, daughter-in-law Mary E. O’Donnell, daughter, Kelly A. Groves, son-in-law, Michael R. Groves; and ten grandchildren: Bryan, Joseph, Derek, Dana Marie, Michael, John, Timothy, Bridget, Emily, and Matthew. He will also be fondly remembered by his numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the
Wounded Warrior Project
or the
Alzheimer’s Association

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