Joe O’Donnell, entrepreneur and transformative philanthropist for cystic fibrosis, dies at 79 - The Boston Globe
Raising money to develop treatments for cystic fibrosis, which claimed the life of his son, "is by far the most important thing that I do," Mr. O'Donnell said. "It is Joey’s legacy."
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Who was Joey? — The Joey Fund
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Joe O’Donnell, whose expansive holdings included stadium concessions, a venture capital firm, a marketing agency, and ski areas, was 79 when he died of cancer Sunday in his Boston home.
His fund-raising propelled scientific advances and “led to the breakthrough medicines that are transforming the lives of tens of thousands of people with cystic fibrosis around the world today,” said Dr. Michael Boyle, chief executive of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. “We would not have these transformative medicines without Joe.”
Initially building a business empire with the Boston Culinary Group, which provided concessions to stadiums and other venues across the country, Mr. O’Donnell branched into a multitude of other ventures. When pressed, though, he would often smile, shrug, and say he sold popcorn and candy.
A friend once joked that he “owns 4 percent of everything,” Boston Magazine noted when it placed Mr. O’Donnell atop its 2006 list of “The 100 People Who Run This Town.”
High on the roster of his other full and part ownerships were the private equity group Belmont Capital, Allied Global Marketing, and the Suffolk Downs racetrack.
“He could digest the most complex spreadsheet in minutes,” said Mike Sheehan, a friend and former Globe chief executive who was a partner in some of Mr. O’Donnell’s ventures. “But his real gift was his X-ray vision: He could see through the numbers to the people behind them. And if he sensed the slightest character flaw, there’d be no deal.”
Rising to success from a modest childhood, Mr. O’Donnell was the son of a police officer and a school secretary in Everett, a formative hometown that still loomed large in his thoughts when he was spending most of his time in boardrooms and executive suites.
“In Everett, you could blindfold me and I could smell my way home,” he recalled warmly in a 2003 Globe interview. “I love that city.”
By that year, Mr. O’Donnell had led separate groups of partners who tried, without success, to buy the New England Patriots in the late 1980s, and then the Red Sox, before the team was sold to a group led by principal owner John Henry.
