Anthony 'Tony' Donnan

[ Originally published on: Thursday, February 14, 2008 ]

MONTAGUE CENTER -- Anthony ''Tony'' Donnan, an Australian businessman who since 1973 has had a home in Montague Center, was killed Saturday, Feb. 9, in a snowmobiling accident. He was 69.

Mr. Donnan left Australia in 1963, aged 25, with just a few hundred dollars in his pocket, setting out like many young Australians to explore the world. What was his first trip overseas was meant to last a year or two, but ended up lasting almost 40.

First as a wide-eyed traveler and then as an executive for Avon, the cosmetics company he joined in 1968 and retired from in 2001, Mr. Donnan traveled frenetically throughout those years, always doing what he could to absorb local culture.

But over that time he also developed deep ties to western Massachusetts and was a constant returnee to the region, even after returning to Australia and Sydney's northern beaches for his retirement. He and his wife, Briggi Donnan, have spent summers in Montague Center for years and his death Saturday came just minutes into the first day of what had become an annual snowmobiling trip with friends from the area.

His ties to western Massachusetts were sealed just months after he left Australia, when he walked into an American Express office in Salzburg, Austria, hoping to collect his mail. There he met Brigitte Kinast, who just a few years before had been an American Field Service exchange student in Amherst.

They were married in 1965 in the Hills Road, Amherst, backyard of Dr Robert and Peg Gage, who had hosted ''Briggi'' when she was an exchange student and remained an important part of the Donnans' lives. They moved to the area and bought their first home in Montague Center in December 1973 after Mr. Donnan was transferred from Montreal to Avon's New York headquarters. Though just four months later Mr. Donnan was transferred to London, he and his family kept the home, renting it to friends, and they have owned a home in the village ever since.

Moves to France, England, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and back again to France and England followed. So too did adventures, myriad friendships, and a growing collection of hobbies, pastimes, and antiques. He had his pilot's license and loved to fly, although diabetes curtailed his ability to do that in his later years. He was also an enthusiastic sailor, scuba diver and restorer of antique cars.

Mr. Donnan will be buried in Australia. He leaves behind his wife, Briggi, 65; daughter, Lea, 30, an artist who lives in Montague; son, Shawn, 36, a journalist in Hong Kong, who is married to Rachel, 36, a photographer and the mother of Mr. Donnan's lone grandchild, Aidan, age 2.

Cheshire Family Funeral Home of West Swanzey, NH., has been entrusted with Mr. Donnan's arrangements. Email condolences can be sent to Cheshirefamilyfh.com.

 

---