Name John Donnelly Died June 27, 2013 | Role Table tennis | |
John Ware Donnelly (September 23, 1906 – June 27, 2013) was a National Senior Games Champion and a gold medal winner in Florida Senior Games State Championships in table tennis. Born in Iowa, he began playing the game in high school. In the 1920s after college, he became a stockbroker in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and quit the game for 30 years. He moved to Florida in 1980 and founded the table tennis club at Sun City Center in the same year. On June 10, 2001 he married at the age of 94; his wife was his junior by 26 years.
He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 8 May 2006, and challenged Leno to a game of table tennis. Donnelly also took the opportunity to read an original poem about love and the older generation. He was involved in volunteer activities at his local church, Rotary Club and Samaritan Services, where he was responsible for making sure people who could not drive were able to attend their medical appointments.