Obituary of Granville William Donovan

Granville William Donovan, 94, of Woodstown, NJ, passed away on September 3rd, 2023 in Jefferson Washington Township Hospital. A Celebration of Life service will be held at Bethel United Methodist Church in Hurffville, NJ at a future date to be determined. Granville was born in Camden, NJ on August 21, 1929. He was the son of the late Clarence and Priscilla Donovan. He went to high school at Pitman High School and graduated in 1947. He married his high school sweetheart Doris Ann Evans in 1949 and they were together until her death in 2017. He worked as an operations manager for Texaco (later Coastal) at the Eagle Point oil refinery in Westville, NJ for most of his career. Granville and Doris raised their family in Hurffville, NJ; starting in 2006 they resided at Friends Village in Woodstown, NJ. Granville was very involved with supporting Bethel United Methodist Church for over 60 years as a Sunday School teacher, Trustee, and all-around volunteer handyman. Granville is survived by his son Samuel Michael Donovan and wife Carol, daughter Deborah Ann Donovan and husband John Cianfrani, daughter Marianne Carey and husband Bill, grandchildren Sarah Ballard and husband Brett, Becky Stoeckler and husband Christopher, Erinn Placitella and husband Jared, and Ryan Carey and wife Heather, and great-grandchildren Liam Ballard, Ayla Ballard, and Grayson Stoeckler. He is preceded in death by his wife Doris Ann, and brother Elwood Jordan. Donations in memory of Granville Donovan may be made to the Memorial Fund at Bethel United Methodist Church (481 Delsea Drive, Sewell, NJ 08080) or to support lymphoma research at the University of Pennsylvania: Online donations can be made to the Brodie Lymphoma Research Fund (604552) at https://giving.aws.cloud.upenn.edu/fund?program=MED&fund=604552 or to donate via check, make it payable to "Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania" with "Brodie Lymphoma Fund, in memory of Granville Donovan" in either the memo section of the check, or on a separate note included in the envelope mailed to Penn Medicine Development, Attn: Katie Dewees Detzel, 3535 Market Street, Suite 750, Philadelphia, PA 19104.