John Francis Donnelly, Jr

John Francis Donnelly, Jr., 72, owner and operator of Amfast Delivery and Mail Service, LLC, passed away on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, at Stormont-Vail Hospital, with his wife and son, Sean, by his side, after a short and courageous battle with re-occurring cancer.

John was born October 5, 1952, in Topeka, the son of John F. "Jack" Donnelly and Arel Irene Best Donnelly. He attended Holy Name Grade School, Boswell Junior High and Topeka High School. He furthered his education at Kaw Valley Vocational Technical School and received certificates in plumbing and electrical.

John was always a hard worker, which was demonstrated by the values and work ethic he passed down to his children. He loved his job with Flexfleet Couriers so much, he and his wife, Linda, opened Amfast in 1994. He was incredibly proud of the business he started with his wife. This year marks 31 years of service in Topeka and surrounding areas.

John's love for his family was undeniable. All holiday celebrations were epic, memorable, and at the Donnelly home. John was a funny guy who enjoyed being the life of the party or quietly being with family or friends out of the limelight. Angie said that she will miss sneaking off with her Dad at family functions, to watch tv, bs, or drink a "few" beers.

And then there was his laugh…everybody loved it and only his brothers could imitate it!!! When he would say something, he thought was funny, he would laugh out loud for all to hear!!! Sometimes we didn't get his joke or the point he was making; but he'd still be laughing and then we would all start laughing together. John's laugh was infectious. All of us tried to recreate the infamous "Donnelly laugh" to no avail. There wasn't a day that went by without John sharing a laugh with someone. That's just who he was. In addition to his laugh, Linda said she will miss his beautiful blue eyes and his loving and giving demeanor, just to name a few things.

John was an avid KC Royals, KC Chiefs and KU Jayhawks fan. In his lifetime, he had the opportunity to attend many of his favorite teams' games. Early on, while working with his brothers at Donnelly Siding and Window it was of the utmost importance to be ready to go to "The K" at noon for tailgating shenanigans.

Over the years, John's hobbies and interests changed with his age. Early on, his interests were bowling, swimming, basketball and softball. In later years, John found interest in collecting "things" and his "treasures" from metal detecting. John was such a collector of "things", he enlisted his entire family to scavenge every nook and cranny of Topeka for "Pepsi Points". However, his truest talent was "Baby Hogging". John had an uncanny ability to steal the heart of any child he was near. He could walk into a room and the arms of his children, grandchildren, great-granddaughter, nieces and nephews would feel his presence and would instinctively raise their arms to be picked up by John. His granddaughter, Michele donned him with his "grandpa" name, which was "Grappie". This carried on through all the grandkids, eventually getting shortened to "Graps" by Dallas, by his eldest grandson.

John was a handyman and jack (joker) of all trades. He took on many tasks and helped using his knowledge to look at something and know what needed to be done to fix it. He would proudly sit in his director chair and instruct us peasants on how said job should be completed properly. He was the "self-proclaimed" supervisor of all projects. His son, Mike, also a "supervisor", known to the family as "Peabody" would give his opinion how it should be and needless to say…age won!

One of his most loved activities he shared with his family and really all of Topeka, was helping to build the St. Patrick's Day floats, as the "supervisor". The Donnelly float has won Best Family Float 3 times, over the years! John always wanted the kids to enjoy his proud Donnelly heritage he gave out candy bars with a gold dollar taped on the back and handed them out along the parade route.

John met and married the love of his life, Linda Power "his Darlin" and they married on September 13, 1980, and later renewed their vows with family & friends at Most Pure Heart Catholic Church in 1990. He is survived by Linda and children: Angela "Angie" Donnelly (Shaun) Smith, and his son Sean Patrick Donnelly. He is also survived by his sister-in-law Lori Power (Randy) Harris, and special niece Ashley Harris (Hutch) Becker of Arizona, his daughter-in-law Ashley Rhone-Donnelly, his grandchildren: Michele Smith (Michael) Houghton, Dallas Smith, Ethan Donnelly, Dylan Donnelly and Braxton Donnelly. His Great Granddaughter; Laken Houghton. His siblings: Thomas "TJ" Donnelly, Colleen Houpt, Mary (Gilbert) Ramirez, & Kelly Donnelly. Numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family members that he always enjoyed seeing and spending time with.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his in-laws Dallas and Norma Power, whom he adored. His infant daughter, Kylee Jo Donnelly, his eldest son Michael Dean "Mikey" Donnelly, his siblings; infant sister Mary Katherine Donnelly, his sister Margaret Jo "Peggy" Donnelly, his brother Terrence Patrick "Terry" Donnelly, and brother-in-law Lonnie Houpt, his infant grandniece, Zenzi Snowhawk. He is greatly missed by his "girls", Freya and Ellie, his puppies.

Cremation has taken place, and a Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at The Bettis Family Sports Complex Event Center, 3025 SE Croco Road, Topeka, Kansas from 2:00p-6:00p.

In lieu of flowers, please send any contributions to Communications Federal Credit Union in care of the John F. Donnelly Memorial Fund. The funds collected will be used to assist with dog adoption fees through the Helping Hands Humane Society.