His Story

Tim Donovan was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1948, and grew up on Inchcliff Road in Upper Arlington, where his parents built one of the early homes on the block between Tremont and Redding. Summer days were spent at the Tremont pool, and summer nights meant ten or fifteen kids filling the street for kick the can and hide and go seek. The 4th of July in Arlington was a neighborhood event not to be missed. After kindergarten at Tremont Elementary, he attended St. Agatha school, and when the family moved to a new home on Wellesley Drive, the very first house built on the block, he and his siblings made the most of it, playing in the neighboring houses while they were still under construction. He learned the value of hard work early, shining his father’s shoes for 10¢ a pair, mowing the lawn with a push mower starting at age 9, and weaving potholders to sell in the neighborhood to save up for family vacation. When the family moved to North Carolina (first Durham, then Charlotte) he graduated from Charlotte Catholic High School before going on to Belmont Abbey College. After graduation, Tim lived in Kentucky, where he met the love of his life, Kim “Scarlet,” and later in Massachusetts, before settling back in Ohio. He was a family man from the start. His brothers and sister were his closest friends and he dearly loved his parents. In each chapter of his life, he made lasting and meaningful friendships. He valued relationships and loved friends who became family. The people he crossed paths and shared experiences with throughout his life were what he enjoyed telling stories of. Writing letters, in his unmistakable cursive, to friends and family during the Christmas season, or for special occasions, was one of his great talents and brought him joy.

Cape Cod

It was during his college summers that Tim fell in love with Cape Cod, working at the Lighthouse Inn in Dennis alongside the McCann cousins. The stories of that group would live on through his whole life, and he couldn’t complete a single one without a room full of laughter. The Cape got into his blood, he returned later in life with the love of his life, Kim “Scarlet” and built a family there, rooted in the same relationships and ole Cape Cod warmth that had drawn him in all those years before.

It was on Cape Cod that he built so many of the irreplaceable memories that defined him, with his family, and with the friends who were family. His wish was that his ashes be spread on the Cape, a return to the place that held so much of his heart.

The Man He Was

Tim was the kind of person who had a lasting impact on people, not through grand gestures, but through consistency. He was patient. He listened. And when things got hard, he was there. Always. The kind of person you could count on without question, who offered support without needing credit for it and never made you feel like a burden for asking.

He eventually made his way back home to Upper Arlington, Ohio, where he dedicated his professional energy to the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department, building community the same way he always had. As a sports parent, he was the dad who never missed a game, drove the long road trips, worked the concession stands, and knew every kid on the team by name. The relationships he built there, with other parents, with the coaches, were a meaningful part of his life. Tim enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, tending to his gardens on Tremont Road, driving through town with the top down in his Mazda Miata and laughing with the people he knew as friends and family.

Family

His family was the organizing principle of his life. He showed love the way he always had, by being present, loving through the easy times and hard, by never leaving the important things unsaid. He is survived by his beloved wife of 41 years, Kim; his son Sam (Ann Merideth); three cherished granddaughters; his brothers and sister Tom (Patty), Mike (Brenda), Molly (Ted), and Danny; and many loving nieces and nephews.

His Legacy

Tim was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease seven years ago. The disease took his memories, the very foundation his story was built on. But the conviction he spent a lifetime demonstrating never wavered, when you face a hard challenge, you don’t bend. You find the fire inside and work that much harder to overcome it.

In his memory, the family asks that donations be made to the Alzheimer’s Association in support of the effort to end Alzheimer’s and all other forms of dementia. Because that’s the path we’re clearing now, together.

He was loved. He loved those throughout his life with all his being. And that, in the end that is what mattered to him.