Obituaries
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, May 11, 2008
Gerald Michael Donahue, owner, Donahue Furniture
Woodstock, Ill. — Gerald Michael Donahue, owner and operator of Donahue Furniture Store here, has died of cancer. He was 85.
Donahue served in the Army Air Corps for three years during World War II, then moved to Cleveland to work for mattress company Englander. In 1950, he opened Donahue Furniture, one of the first distributors of Sherrill Furniture.
"He did everything — from ordering to selling to delivering — and if something went wrong, he fixed it," his daughter, Lynn Donahue Stewart of interior design firm Donahue Designs, told the Chicago Tribune. "He would say that you do whatever it takes to make a farm work from sunup to sundown and you apply that same work ethic to your business and you will be a success. And he was."
Gerald Donahue worked in the store until two months ago. Two of his children, David Donahue and Sally Donahue Schaefer, continue to work there as vice presidents.
Other survivors include his wife, three other sons, one other daughter, 17 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and a sister.
Friends may sign Donahue's guest book online at www.NWHerald.com/obits. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Mary Catholic Church, 312 Lincoln Ave., Woodstock, Ill., 60098.
Theodore N. 'Ted' Sacks, Sacks Furniture owner
Monroe, Mich. — Theodore N. "Ted" Sacks, owner and operator of retailer Sacks Furniture Co., has died of congestive heart failure. He was 92.
As a youngster, Sacks began working for his father, a Ukrainian immigrant who founded Sacks Furniture in 1916.
In 1940, Ted Sacks purchased the family business from his father and served as president. During the 1960s and 1970s, he also owned and operated furniture stores in Jackson, Mich., and in Defiance, Fostoria and Tiffin, Ohio with partner Melvin Hamerman. In 1989, Sacks opened the Warehouse Sleep Shop in Woodstock, Ill.
His retail career was interrupted while he served three years in the Army during World War II. He also spent four years in the National Guard.
His oldest son, Harris Sacks, has worked in the business for the past 36 years, and now manages Sacks Furniture. Other survivors include his wife, Rebecca; nine other children, 12 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and a sister.
Memorial donations may be made to Monroe Temple B'nai Israel, in care of Jack Katz, 440 Hollywood Drive, Monroe, Mich. 48162.
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