Hub philanthropist Joe O’Donnell died Sunday at age 79 after a long battle with cancer. He was one of Boston’s hard-working and successful nice guys.
He’s also a hero in the fight against cystic fibrosis.
“It’s amazing to see these kids now breathing like race horses, playing hockey, doing stuff they never dreamed they’d do,” O’Donnell told the Herald in 2016 at the “Joey” film showing about his son’s battle with cystic fibrosis.
“We started with this thing 32 years ago and right now we’re doing over $1 million a year,” O’Donnell told the Herald that day. “It’s a big, friendly cocktail party and a nice movie and people love it.”
That tally has since topped $500 million through The Joey Fund.
The FDA has approved the drugs Orkambi and Kalydeco, important advances for a large portion of patients stricken by CF, the Herald reported.
“Right now, we’ve got a drug for about 60 percent of our kids,” O’Donnell said back in 2016 of the advancements.
O’Donnell attended Malden Catholic High School and Phillips Exeter Academy before enrolling in Harvard College in 1963. After receiving a degree in government, he earned his M.B.A. in 1971. At Harvard, he was a six-time letter winner in football and baseball, and captained the baseball team as a senior, his Exeter bio states.
O’Donnell founded Boston Culinary Group Inc. (originally Boston Concessions Group Inc.) in 1976, which grew into a major food service corporation. The company merged with Centerplate in 2010, and O’Donnell now serves as chairman. He founded Belmont Capital LLC and also owns Allied Advertising Agency.
In 1986, the O’Donnells founded the Joey Fund in memory of their son, who had died of cystic fibrosis earlier that year at age 12. O’Donnell is also a trustee of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which twice presented him with the Breath of Life Award, its highest honor.
When former Mayor Tom Menino announced his retirement in 2012, O’Donnell told the Herald, “I’ll never forget that night, about five years ago. … You attended two fundraisers, lit seven Christmas trees and made nine speeches. After all that, I was exhausted, but you turned to us and asked, ‘So where are we going to dinner?’”