News & Info

2006 Hall of Fame, June Donahue

In 1999, the Board of Directors established a Hall of Fame for members of the Olympia Master Builders. Limited to only one inductee per year, persons selected must demonstrate outstanding service to the Association (50 percent), to the industry (30 percent) and to the community (20 percent). If a former officer or director, a candidate must have been out of office for five years.

The five members of the Olympia Master Builders Hall of Fame are Ken Donohue , Peter Fluetsch of Sunset Air, Mason Manning, Ed Rhodes, a former President who went on to a second career as a Thurston County building inspector and last year's recipient John Drebick with Drebick Investments. Selection of the winner is made by the Executive Committee. This year's inductee to the Hall of Fame is June Donohue, a long time member of the Association.

June was instrumental in developing the Olympia Master Builder's Home Show. June served as chair of the Home Show committee for several terms and has chaired virtually every other major committee. The Donohue's participated in 9 Street of Dreams, often time building a home in the Street of Dreams simply support OMB as the Street of Dreams was one of OMB's only major revenue sources.

June's dedication to Olympia Master Builders continued as a senior leader, first as Associate Vice President, First Vice President and President in 1995. June was the 2000 recipient of the Norman A. Paulsen award. June is a life director of our association.

Our community can attribute nearly 1,000 homes as a result of over 35 years of Donohue Construction. To quote June, "Ken always said, builders should be proud of what they do, and I trust you are all proud of your profession because there is nothing better than building a home for someone who needs it." June's commitment and interest in our community and to all our children, was evident when she helped form the Hands on Children's Museum which now serves 105,000 children annually. Among other community projects that can be directly attributed to Donohue involvement are the Amtrak Station, and the Band Stand at Huntamer Park in Lacey.

June's commitment to the industry took her to the Building Industrial Association of Washington (BIAW) where she served as Membership and Marketing Coordinator from 1999 – 2002.

Much of June's commitment showed in her eagerness to mentor new leaders in the association. Many of our current leadership are a direct result of her efforts and inspiration.

As for inspiration, life has handed June adversities. In 1994, June recovered from a terrible car accident which left her in a coma for eight days, and also survived cancer in the 90's. She did this with the same dignity, grace and quiet strength by which she lives each day. Kendal Donohue, June and Ken's son said, "Ken would tell me an old saying that, behind every great man there was a great woman. They lived this adage". June, we salute you!