SCSU tradition branches back generations for Donovan family

(Pictured left to right) Leann Donovan, John Donovan ’85, Caitlin (Donovan) Hogan ’10 and Danielle Wilsey ’14 pictured together at Caitlin’s graduation from St. Cloud State University in 2010.

Outside of being a part of the same family tree, there has been one constant aspect within the Donovan family spanning over four generations.

Stretching back to the mid-1900’s, multiple members of the Donovan family attended St. Cloud State University and either came to school in St. Cloud as students or are now graduates of the University.

Although it initially wasn’t something the family members planned, attending St. Cloud State has become a tradition the entire family now looks back on fondly.

“I’m very proud of our association with SCSU. Higher education has always been a value in our family,” said John Donovan ’85, ’88. “My father always said, ‘you have to go to college, you have to go to college.’ We took that to heart, and I instilled the same message in my daughters who both went here.

“St. Cloud State continues to be a great value to our family.”

First set of college students

The first wave of Donovans that attended St. Cloud State began in the mid-1900’s, when John’s parents, Eleanore (Gross) Donovan and James Edward Donovan, along with his aunt — Eleanore’s sister — Sister James Marie Gross, all attended the St. Cloud State Teachers College.

Eleanore, who was born in 1933 and has since passed away, graduated from the college in 1952 after earning her degree at the two-year institution.

James Edward, who was born in 1928 and has also since passed, didn’t end up graduating from the college, but attended in the mid-1940’s. He went on to serve as a businessman in the St. Cloud area throughout his lifetime after that.

Sister James Marie Gross, who went by the name of Marie Gross when she attended school in the 1940’s, graduated in 1944. During her time at the college, there were mostly women on campus because all the men were off serving in World War II.

“I took the course for teaching elementary school and was assigned to fifth and sixth grade in Kimball, Minnesota following that.” Sister James Marie said. “I’ll never forget, I had a teacher who I had in one class. He was called to the door, so during class we decided we would crawl out the window and hide, which we did. He came back and knew who had started it.

“Years later, Eleanore was going (to the college) and he came up to her and said, ‘are you Marie Gross’ sister?’ We looked enough alike that he recognized her.”

They may not have known it at the time, but Eleanore, James Edward and Sister James Marie kicked off what would turn into a strong tradition of Huskies who experienced their schooling in St. Cloud.

Following in the footsteps as Huskies

John Donovan ’85 (left) and Caitlin (Donovan) Hogan ’10 (right) pictured together at Caitlin’s graduation from St. Cloud State University in 2010.

While growing up on the south side of St. Cloud with their parents, brothers John and James Patrick Donovan knew they would likely follow their parents and aunt in trying to obtain a degree at St. Cloud State.

In the 1980’s, John and James Patrick each ended up graduating from the four-year university, both graduating in 1985.

“I used to play all the time over in Riverside Park and would always bike right by SCSU. It was something that I was familiar with. My father took me to oodles of games over at Selke Field and we would always go see the Granite City Classic basketball tournament over the holiday and New Year time,” John said. “There was always a familiarity with SCSU where it seemed like the hometown university, whereas going somewhere else was a little scary and a little intimidating.

John graduated from St. Cloud State with an A.A. degree in 1985, before earning his undergraduate degree in 1988 and then going on elsewhere to obtain his master’s degree.

His brother, James Patrick, graduated alongside him in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“My familiarity with the university just made it seem like a good fit,” John said.

Danielle Wilsey ’14 poses for a picture at St. Cloud State University.

The tradition of Donovan family members who attended St. Cloud State didn’t stop there, however. John’s daughter, Caitlin (Donovan) Hogan, graduated with a degree in English in 2010, while his stepdaughter, Danielle Wilsey, graduated with a degree in accounting from SCSU in 2014.

“I gave my daughters the message that you can go to all these other universities and they may be great, they are awesome, but you’re going to get your biggest bang for your buck at your local state university,” John said. “It just seemed like the best logical and economical fit for them.”

Along with his daughter and stepdaughter going to school in St. Cloud, John’s father’s first grandchild and first great grandchild also went to SCSU. James Edward’s first grandchild, Melissa Mae Donovan, graduated with a degree in political science in 2007, while his first great grandchild, Serita Donovan, attended the university as recent as the 2018-19 academic year.

The tradition of attending St. Cloud State runs deep in the Donovan family tree, forever holding a special place in their lives.

“SCSU is a great resource for our community”

Even though creating this tradition wasn’t something that was initially planned, attending St. Cloud State has served as an important life moment and remains a special place for all of the Donovans.

“My experience was very positive. Some friends of mine and I started the first recovery meeting here on the campus of SCSU where we used to meet in Atwood. We thoroughly enjoyed that,” John said. “We would go to the movies, we would go to the listening room in Atwood and I DJ’d at KVCS. I look back on my SCSU years very fondly.”

Spanning back to the mid-1900’s, St. Cloud State and attending both the college and university has been a constant occurrence within the Donovan family spanning over four generations.

And although a majority of them may be done attending St. Cloud State, John and the rest of his family remain involved at the university, a place they all continue to show support to in the same way it supported them years ago.

“I do a lot of volunteer work with the university. I serve on the advisory committee to the Recovery Community, I’m a donor and I’m still a big supporter,” John said. “I do a lot of public speaking and I always talk frequently about my time at SCSU and speak about it fondly.

“Overall, SCSU is a great resource for our community.”