Donovan Anthony Cordell

Donovan Anthony Cordell, of Longmont, Colorado, was born to Anna Mae Nugent and Albert Nicholas Cordell on November 17, 1931, in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, and passed peacefully on July 4, 2025, in Aurora, Colorado, after a long journey with dementia.

Don lived until his teen years in Sauk Centre, when the family moved to Minneapolis. Immediately after graduating from Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis, he enlisted in the Air Force, went to basic training in Mississippi, and was assigned during the Korean War as a radio operator at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, until he was honorably discharged.

Near the end of his service in Alaska, he met Mary Elizabeth (Betty) Mullaly, who had moved from New York and whose brother also worked on the base. They married on August 8, 1953, after he finished his service, and moved to Minnesota. There, he attended barber school, and the couple welcomed their first two daughters. They returned to Alaska, where five more daughters were born, then moved to Arizona for a year, where daughter number eight was born. After they relocated to Colorado, their ninth and tenth daughters joined the family.

In November 1963, Don was hired by the Boulder Fire Department, where he worked until 1979. Like many firefighters, he held second jobs, including insurance sales, RTD bus driver, school bus driver and moving van driver. After retiring from the fire department, he worked as a security guard, including at Boulder High School, Storage Tek and ConAgra.

As a young man, he loved sports and physical activities. These included skiing, hunting and swimming, in addition to several high school sports. He and Betty enjoyed dancing; while in Alaska, Don gave ballroom dancing lessons.

Involvement and service in the Catholic Church was very important to Don. The family attended Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church while they lived in Boulder (1963-1976) and later moved to Longmont where they attended St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

Among other volunteer contributions at St. John’s, Don and Betty were trained as Stephen Ministers and brought Holy Communion to homebound parish members. In 1988, Don founded the St. John’s lay Carmelite community, a group which focuses on contemplative prayer, community and service.

It was also important to Don to give back to the general community. He often assisted neighbors and gave free haircuts to men in retirement homes, while sharing his creative stories. He had an ear for music and loved playing the harmonica, which he did until the final month of life.

Don was the fifth of seven children and, although small in stature, was known to challenge bigger children in physical pursuits. He especially liked boxing and said it was his dad’s way of getting the brothers in the family to settle their disputes.

Don was preceded in death by his wife Betty, both parents, and five of his six siblings: Carol Meyer, Vern Cordell, Jim Cordell, Marilyn Bachman and Shirley Pierson, and three grandchildren, Tommy Marino, Ashley VanMatre and Amanda VanMatre. He is survived by his youngest sister, Janet Mealer of Maple Plain MN; his 10 daughters, Patricia Toon (Mike), Anne Moriarty, Carol Marino, Laura Giles (Keith), Mary McGill (Leigh), Cindy Brown (Craig), Donna Sebastian (Tom), Margaret VanMatre, Teresa Fischer (Neil) and Roberta Cordell (Tracy Ragatz); 26 grandchildren and 34 great grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00am on Friday, July 25, at St. John’s Catholic Church, 323 Collyer St., Longmont, CO 80501, followed by interment at 11:30am at Foothills Memory Garden in Longmont.

Viewing will be held at 4:00-6:00pm on Thursday, July 24, at Carroll-Lewellen Funeral Home, 503 Terry St., Longmont, CO 80501. Praying of the rosary and eulogies will follow at 6pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Don’s memory to the Colorado Fallen Firefighters Foundation at cofff.org or Catholic Charities of Denver at ccdenver.org.