Obituaries : * Genevieve (Annie) Donahey; Retired Florist
Genevieve M. (Annie) Donahey, who owned the Little Orchid Annie flower shop in Sherman Oaks for more than 30 years, has died at a Fillmore convalescent home. She was 78.
A longtime Sherman Oaks resident, Mrs. Donahey died Monday of complications of pneumonia, said her daughter, Mary Irene Gilmore of Oceanside, Calif.
Born in Troy, Ida., she came to California as a teen-ager. In the late 1940s, she and her sister, Annabelle, opened the Little Orchid Annie flower shop on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. Mrs. Donahey had the shop until her retirement in the early 1980s.
She was active with the Greater Sherman Oaks Chamber of Commerce and did charity work for the City of Hope, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Saint Joseph Medical Center and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
In addition to her daughter Mary Irene, Mrs. Donahey is survived by her longtime companion, Lawrence Sweeney of Oceanside; daughter Bernadette Russell of Budd Lake, N.J.; son-in-law Dr. Dennis J. Hayes of Glendale; sister Annabelle Jones of Topanga; 11 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Her daughter, Colleen Hayes, died in 1987.
Funeral services are pending. Praiswater Funeral Home in Van Nuys is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Mrs. Donahey’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
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