Father Edward Hennessey knew the more relaxed, social side of Archbishop Donnellan better than anyone else except for Nancy Donnellan. The two priests were close friends and good companions since the winter of 1941 when they met at a ski resort in the Adirondacks in New York State.

It happened that each was with a group of priests enjoying a holiday at the same inn. The groups joined up to ski together. They enjoyed their fellowship so much that hey decided to meet again the following winter. These winter ski vacations continued for more than 10 years, Father Hennessey said. When the priests became more adept on skis, they moved up to the more demanding Laurentians in Canada. The archbishop, his friend said, became a competent skier.

About four of the priests had planned their annual ski vacation in 1954 but at the last minute, Father Donnellan learned he would not be joining them. In fact, they were waiting for him in the car outside St. Patrick's Cathedral after Sunday High Mass when he came out without his suitcase. It turned out he had just learned, about five minutes before, from Cardinal Spellman that he would be starting as his secretary the very next morning.

For the next several years he would be taking his vacation only when the cardinal decided to take his. The carefree days of being assistant pastor at the cathedral were over.

Father Hennessey, who said the two priests were ordained "almost at the same moment," one in New York City, the other in New Jersey, said they began meeting for dinner, playing golf, taking vacations together whenever possible. Father Hennessey was a parish priest and later a hospital chaplain in Jersey City.

He cared a great deal about friendship. "I don’t think he ever lost a friend. Once you were his friend, he tried to keep in touch. He was very kind to anybody that was hurt by teasing or being caught off base. He would always side with those being badgered," Father Hennessey said.

Through the years of their "long standing and very fruitful" friendship, Father Hennessey said, he found his friend a "very bright man" and "strong willed" who could not be swayed if he knew he was right. But he always remained "very unimpressed with himself. He was very impressed with the dignity of the church and the office he held. He tried hard to live up to dignity of the bishopric."

When he wasn’t' performing his duties, he was most relaxed and easy going. No matter how bad the day had been, it never carried over for dinner. "He loved to sit around and tell humorous stories."

His great love for his parents and his sister were obvious to all who knew him. He easily acknowledged his great debt to his parents, for their staunch faith and their unselfishness. Their son admitted that he never had to sacrifice during the Depression years because his parents were so willing to sacrifice for him, his old friend recalled.