PERU – Philip T. Donahue Sr., 84, died at his residence on the Dickvale Road, Peru, on Tuesday, April 13, at 11:30 a.m. after a long battle with cancer, surrounded by his loving family.

He was born in Rumford, Jan. 5, 1920, the son of George and Delia (Rutherford) Donahue. Served in the Army in the 532nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment and saw action in the Asiatic Pacific Theater during World War II for which he received the Bronze Service Arrow Head and Philippine Liberation Ribbon with two Bronze Service Stars.

Following the war he worked on the New York Central Railroad, in the construction trades and retired from Stowell MacGregor Mill in 1982, as a supervisor and then worked for 12 years as custodian at the Maine National Bank in Dixfield.

In 1962, he married Sylvia Byron Downs who survives him. He was a homebody who loved his house and his garden. Sunday dinners with family were a highlight of his later years. He was a member of the Dixfield American Legion.

Survivors include his wife, Sylvia of Peru; and their son, Kelly Donahue of Andover; sister, Alice Rumley of Dixfield; four children from a previous marriage to the late Paula Drew Wixon of Winterport, Theresa Allen of Rocky Mount, N.C., Philip Donahue II and his wife Roberta of Raynham, Mass., Kathleen Crump of Andover, Patricia Paul of Portland; three stepchildren, Darlene Fitzgerald and her husband Tim of Roxbury, Walter Downs Jr. and his wife Rose of Rumford, and Bradley Downs and his wife Corrine (Bibbi) of Andover; 10 grandchildren, Amanda Gatzke and her husband Tom, David Allen, Andrea Allen, Donna Mercure, Philip Donahue III and his wife Tracey, Carla Hamlin, Fred Fifield and his wife Ann, Jonathan Downs, Heidi Downs, Amy Breton and her husband Eric; 13 great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by his parents, George and Delia; sister, Mary Wright; brothers, Ernest, Jim, Bernard, Lewis, George, and Bill.