Jean Donovan; 1953-1980

Jean, the younger of two children of Raymond and Patricia Donovan from Westport, Connecticut, was born April 10, 1953. Hers was a middle class family; her father was an executive engineer and a designer of helicopters for the Vietnam War. Jean was very devoted to her brother Michael, and was alarmed when he developed Hodgkins disease. When he recovered, Jean took another look at the preciousness of life.

She received a master’s degree in business administration and took a management job for an accounting firm in Cleveland. Her folks knew she was on her way to a successful business career. An outgoing person, Jean was called a "driver", a "joker ," a fun loving person. She loved riding her motorcycle, and enjoyed scotch, even pouring it over her cereal. But Jean was beginning the search for a deeper meaning in life and volunteered for ministry to the poor in Cleveland. When she heard about the diocesan mission project in El Salvador, she knew "this was it." "I want to get closer to Him, and that’s the only way I think I can."

As an exchange student in Ireland, she met a Father Michael Crowley, a former missionary to Peru, who introduced her to the world of the poor and a life of faith committed to a more radical following of Jesus. She spent some time at Maryknoll, and then arrived in El Salvador in July, 1979, at a critical time for the Church. She became Caritas coordinator for the diocesan mission program where she worked with Sister Dorothy Kazel, distributing food for the poor and the refugees while carrying out family education programs.

Patricia, Jean’s mother, said of her work, "Jean took her commitment to the campesinos very seriously. She was strongly motivated by St. Francis of Assisi and by Archbishop Oscar Romero. Here she had the opportunity to translate God’s teachings into clothing for the poor, feeding the hungry, and caring for the wounded refugees, mainly children, who had lost what little they had." The people she worked with called her, "St. Jean the Playful."

Jean had a great love for Msgr. Romero and often came to the cathedral to hear his homilies, which were often the only source of news and truth left in El Salvador. After his assassination, Jean and Dorothy were among those who took turns keeping vigil at his coffin. The two were also in the cathedral attending his funeral when the security forces massacred 44 and wounded hundreds. Jean said she believed she too would die that day.

In the fall of 1980, Jean made a brief visit to Ireland to attend a friend’s wedding. Here she was reunited briefly with her fiancee, Dr. Douglas Cable. Many friends urged her to leave El Salvador. Playfully she answered, "They don’t kill blond-haired, blue-eyed North Americans."

But Jean was wrong.

Jean and Sister Dorothy continued with their ministry of accompanying persons in danger, getting supplies for others, and were often seen along the country-side in their white Toyota mini-bus. After the election of Ronald Reagan as president, matters worsened for the poor of El Salvador. Reagan promised a strong stand against Communism, and the Salvadoran government got the message. The military believed they were given a blank check —no restrictions. Jean feared a bloodbath in the country.

Two weeks before Jean’s death, she wrote, "Several times 1 have decided to leave El Salvador. I almost could except for the children, the poor bruised victims of this insanity. Who would care for them? Whose heart would be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and helplessness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine."

Again Jean wrote, "I am 26 years old. I should be married. I shouldn’t be running around doing all these things. But then I think, I’ve got so many things I want to do. It’s hard when I see my friends getting married and having babies, that’s something I’ve thought about ... . Am I ever going to have kids? Sometimes I wonder if I’m denying that to myself. I really don’t want to, but that’s maybe what I’m doing. And then I sit there and talk to God and say, why are you doing this to me? Why can’t I just be your little suburban housewife? He hasn’t answered yet."