John James Donady, PhD, of Middletown, CT, husband to the late Bonnie, and father of Janae, passed away peacefully at home in the early morning of Monday, January 6, 2025. He was 86.

John, known as "Jim" to his friends, was born in Hempstead, NY, the son of the late John James and Mary Grace Donady.

While a young man, Jim was keenly interested in agriculture and worked on farms over the summers.  He attended Cornell University's School of Agriculture but later transferred to Stony Brook University (SUNY), feeling that it offered a more student-centered experience.  It was in his freshman English class at Stony Brook where he met Bonnie, his future wife of almost 60 years.

Jim went on to obtain a PhD from the University of Iowa, where he studied the effects of abnormal chromosome structure on development of the common fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. He then moved to the City of Hope in California for postdoctoral studies, where he collaborated on groundbreaking work that resulted in the ability to culture fruit fly cells and analyze their development and structure. Jim brought this culture system to his long-time faculty position at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where his lab focused on isolating and characterizing muscle cells and analyzing their gene expression and protein function. These studies led to a better understanding of muscle health and disease in humans.

Jim was a gifted professor and mentor to his students, undergrad and graduate, often helping them years after they had graduated. He loved teaching, whether in the classroom, over the dinner table, or during student-centered events, which he often attended. Many of his students kept in close touch with him throughout their own careers.

Late in his career Jim focused on helping first-generation, low-income students find success at Wesleyan. He worked on a federally-funded summer program where the students lived on campus and experienced real lectures and labs. These students learned how to take accurate notes, study effectively, and take advantage of personal resources by working with teacher assistants. Jim saw the need to help these students the way he wished he had been helped in his early college career.

In addition, Jim created a class for students interested in various psychology professions. He was able to get permission from the state and other organizations for these small groups to meet and interact with patients at a local mental health facility.  These interactions resulted in having positive impacts on both the students and patients.

He retired in 2015, having worked at Wesleyan for 43 years.

In addition to academics, Jim was an avid hiker and spent a great deal of his time camping; he especially loved Maine, though he traveled to several areas throughout the country.  He loved animals, but especially observing birds. He filled his yard with a myriad of bird feeders, which family and friends would marvel at when visiting. Jim was a great man who helped his extended family as much as those at home.

He told wonderful stories, which he would often recite slowly and methodically - each word and detail needing to be exact.  The stories' conclusions would always bring a noticeable pause of interest, furrowed eyebrows, a belly laugh, or simply a smile of appreciation.

Jim is survived by his loving daughter, Janae, numerous extended family members, and two cats: Max and Junebug, all of whom will miss him very much.

Funeral arrangements have been carried out by Biega's. There will not be any public events at this time. There will be a celebration of both Jim and Bonnie Donady's lives in the spring. That will be by invitation only. Please leave any thoughts or memories of Jim at www.biegafuneralhome.com. Memorial contributions can be sent in his name:

800-MHC-GIVE  www.mtholyoke.edu/giving/mount-holyoke-fund http://weareplannedparenthoodaction.org/donate/fight Protectors of Animals in East Hartford  https://poainc.org Cat tales Middletown    https://cattalesct.org ASPCA       https://secure.aspca.org