Donald E. Hovey

January 23, 1929 - June 23, 2014

COOPERSTOWN - In the early morning hours of Monday, June 23, 2014, Dr. Donald E. Hovey, Lt. Col. USAF (Ret.), passed away unexpectedly yet peacefully at his home in Cooperstown. He was 85.

Born in Glendale, California, on January 23, 1929, he was a son of Helen Adelaide Wright and Harrold Kibbee Hovey.

Donald and his beloved wife, Wenona (also known as Wynn) were married in Cortland in 1951. Donald's career in the United States Air Force led the family to live in locations as diverse as Mountain Home, Idaho, New York City, and Tokyo. After serving with the Air Force for 20 years, Lieutenant Colonel Hovey retired in 1970. A graduate of UCLA, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, and later embarked on a career as a professor of management at Youngstown State University in Ohio.  

After moving to Cooperstown, Dr. Hovey and his wife owned and operated the Wynterholm Bed and Breakfast located in a 17-room Gilded Age mansion on Chestnut Street in Cooperstown. After selling Wynterholm, the Hoveys divided their time between the Yacht and Tennis Club of St. Pete Beach, Florida, and their summer cottage in Otsego County on Goodyear Lake. Dr. Hovey relocated to Cooperstown after the passing of his wife Wenona in 2010.

Donald's pride and joy were his beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren: Gregg and Leslie Hovey of San Diego, California, and daughters, Kate and Ashley; Kate's children with her husband, Charles Wheeler Coberly, Charlotte (Charlie) and Charles (Wheels); Rebecca and Rod Francis of Putney, Vermont, and sons, Daniel (Herrera) and Lachlan; Hal and Susan Hovey of Whidbey Island, Washington, and sons, Shane and Skyler; Nancy and Todd Schmidt of Lake Katrine, and daughters, Megan and Elizabeth Rose; and James Hovey and his partner, Claude Furones, of Portlandville; and previously deceased David Robert Hovey and Anne Elizabeth Hovey.

Donald is further survived by his four sisters-in-law: Viola Fiumera and her husband, Charles, of Boynton Beach, Florida, and Walton, Althea Gennarino and her husband, Lawrence, of Oneonta, Virginia Beecher of Utica, and Carol Brown and her husband, Charles, of Sodus Point and The Villages, Florida; his brother, Richard Hovey and his wife, Gloria, of Palm Desert, California; and many nieces and nephews. 

To everyone who knew him he exemplified a true officer and a gentleman.

In fulfillment of Dr. Hovey's desire to have his body donated for medical education and research, he has been gratefully received by the SUNY Upstate Medical University Anatomical Gift Program in Syracuse.  

Visiting hours for Dr. Hovey are scheduled for Saturday, August 9, 2014, from 9 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown. He will eventually be laid to rest with Military Honors in Lakewood Cemetery, Cooperstown at a date to be announced in the near future.

As an alternative to flowers, Donald's family suggests that expressions of sympathy in the form of memorial gifts be made to the Louis Busch Hager Cancer Center Fund, c/o Friends of Bassett, One Atwell Road, Cooperstown, NY  13326 or to the Cooperstown Emergency Squad, P.O. Box 322, Cooperstown, NY  13326.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.


If you would like to send condolences to the family, send an email to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth. We will forward your comments to the family. If you would like to send flowers in memory of the deceased, contact Mohican Flowers at (607) 547-8822, or A Rose is a Rose at (607) 264-3100.