Benjamin Franklin Donley, 90, of Milwaukie, Ore., formerly of Greene County, died August 8, 1998, in his home. Mr. Donley graduated in 1928 from Cumberland Township High School in Carmichaels, where he was their first four-letter athlete. Following high school, he attended Massanutten Military Academy for two years on an athletic scholarship. He attended Waynesburg College, first on an athletic scholarship and later on an academic scholarship, earning a bachelor of science degree. He studied forestry, biology and game conservation at Penn State University, earning a master's degree. Mr. Donley worked for Pennsylvania Fish Commission until serving as an air intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force in the South Pacific during World War II. Following the war, he became a field biologist in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service until his retirement in 1976. He lived in Boston, Mass., and Trenton, N.J., where he headed a four-year comprehensive study of the Delaware River Watershed. Mr. Donley was transferred to Billings, Mont., for several years and in 1966 moved to Milwaukee, where he lived until his death. In 1954, he married Ethel B. Marder, who survives. Also surviving are a daughter, Barbara Butler of Oregon City, Ore.; a son, Paul Stewart Donley of Clackamas, Ore.; a brother, Robert Phillips Donley of Waynesburg; and a grandson, Andrew Benjamin Butler. Deceased are two sisters, Dorothy and Virginia. Copyright ©1998 Observer Publishing Co.Last updated Thursday, August 27, 1998Benjamin F. Donley
Fish and Wildlife Service biologist born in Greene
He was born August 21, 1907, on the South Branch of Muddy Creek near Carmichaels, a son of James Patrick and Mamie Howard Donley.