CALAIS, Maine — More than 100 law enforcement officials and first responders wearing dress uniforms lined the walls of a local gymnasium Thursday to say goodbye to a fellow officer.
They all wanted to pay respects to Shawn R. Donahue, the chief deputy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office who died unexpectedly last weekend a few days shy of his 42nd birthday. Hundreds of people, public safety personnel and civilians alike, attended a military-style funeral for Donahue Thursday in St. Croix Hall at Washington County Community College.
On May 17, Donahue was off duty, heading to Bangor with family when he suffered an apparent heart attack. Donahue, who was riding as a passenger in a vehicle driven by his wife, Darlene Donahue, was taken by ambulance to a Bangor hospital, where he was declared deceased.
Shawn Donahue had worked in law enforcement since 1995, when he started as a patrolman with the Calais Police Department. He also worked for the Baileyville Police Department for 11 years, eventually rising to the rank of chief, and worked two stints for the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Donahue was remembered Thursday as a dedicated family man and stalwart law enforcement officer by relatives and police officials who spoke at the event.
One speaker at the funeral, Cpl. Chris Donahue of the Washington County Sheriff’s Department, said he remembered his younger brother as both his best friend and one of his role models. He said Shawn Donahue got started in law enforcement before he did.
“I have always felt I have very big shoes to fill coming into this field,” Chris Donahue said. “I was scared so many times that I would not live up to the example already established by Shawn.”
Courtney Cochran, the chief deputy’s niece, got a chuckle from the packed house when she said that years ago, she initially was skeptical about why her aunt wanted to date “a cop.” But she quickly was won over by the man who would become her uncle — who, she added, made “the best” chocolate chip cookies.
“We all have been touched by an angel, and that angel is my uncle,” Cochran said.
Mark Silk, senior detective with the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, recalled how he was a sergeant with the Calais Police Department when Shawn Donahue first started working there in 1995. He was Donahue’s training officer back then, Silk said, and he quickly realized Donahue had a knack for the job.
“Shawn was an amazingly gifted law enforcement officer,” Silk said. “Shawn could talk to anyone.”
Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith said that Donahue was a pleasure to work with, even if his chief deputy put his family ahead of everything else. Donahue had a quick wit and a good sense of humor, he said, but the real asset he brought to his job was his professionalism and positive attitude.
“Sometimes we confuse the word ‘duty’ with ‘obligation,’” Smith said. “He was generous in every sense of the word.”
Donahue’s father-in-law, Lyman Cochran, and his stepson Nathan Phelps, a private in the Army, also spoke at the funeral. Anthony Giard of Mays Funeral Home presided over the event.
