Donahue Schriber chair dies

June Casagrande

Daniel Donahue, the co-founder of Donahue Schriber known for his

role in transforming Fashion Island, died Tuesday from complications

from heart surgery. He was 60.

Donahue’s status as an icon of the Newport-Mesa business community

spans three decades, beginning with the formation of his partnership

with Thomas Schriber in 1967 and continuing through May 2002, when

the men received a Lifetime Achievement Awards from the UC Irvine

Graduate School of Management.

“In everything he did, he had a compassion and respect for fellow

human beings. Those principles guided him in business and in every

part of his life,” Schriber said. “He was an extraordinary man.”

As chairman for 33 years of Costa Mesa-based Donahue Schriber,

Donahue oversaw the company’s development of more than 15-million

square feet of retail space in California, Arizona and Nevada. Better

known projects include the Glendale Galleria, Anaheim Plaza and The

Market Place, formerly Tustin Market Place.

In Newport-Mesa, Donahue’s most famous legacy is Fashion Island.

In the mid-1980s, Donahue was part of the duo that transformed it

from a cold conglomeration of unrelated stores to a stylish shopping

destination known worldwide.

In October 2002, Donahue added to his long list of business

accolades the Champion of Industry Award of the California Business

Properties Assn. -- awarded for “improvement of the commercial,

industrial and retail real estate industry in California through the

development of projects that stand out for their innovation,

attraction and versatility.”

Donahue, a Los Angeles native, graduated from San Jose State in

1966. After working as a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker for

two years, he joined John S. Griffith and Co., where his professional

relationship with Schriber culminated in the pair renaming the firm

Donahue Schriber in 1983.

Loved ones and admirers say they will remember Donahue as not just

a businessman but for his work supporting charitable causes, notably

in helping to form a financial support network for Kidworks, an

after-school program in Santa Ana for at-risk children.

Donahue is survived by wife Michelle; 10-year-old daughter

Katherine; and 7-year-old twin daughters Devin and Morgan.

Services will take place at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport

Beach at noon Monday. The family has requested that, instead of

flowers, mourners make donations in Donahue’s memory to the charity

of their choice. Donahue Schriber has set up a recorded message with

information about services at (714) 545-1400, Ext. 550. Information

is also available at the company’s Web site, www.donahueschriber.com.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].