Barbara A. (Donovan) Hannon

Barbara Ann Hannon (nee Donovan), known to her wide circle of family and friends as “Barb,” was born on February 15, 1948, in Boston, Massachusetts, and Barb completed her life on Sunday, February 8, 2026, in Media, Pennsylvania. She grew up in the Boston suburb of Arlington with her parents, Mary and Bill, and her siblings, Janice and Billy. After attending Arlington Catholic High School, she graduated from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and embarked on a career as a registered nurse, later combining her passions for health care and learning by obtaining a master’s degree in education and a doctorate in nursing.

Helping others was a tenet of her Catholic faith. Barb aided an untold number of people during her long career as a staff nurse, hospital executive, diabetes educator, and nursing professor while working at hospitals in Boston, Maine, and Pennsylvania, and as a traveling nurse administrator around the United States.

Barb was a dedicated supporter and fierce advocate for all those who joined the nursing profession. In keeping with her lifelong, core belief in the rights and empowerment of women, Barb frequently mentored younger nursing professionals, including many women whose lives and careers she hoped to advance. Barb was always excited to support other women in their personal and professional endeavors, whether they were her neighbors, coworkers, or public figures on state and national platforms. She also owned and operated a physician and nurse recruitment firm in Maine.

In her free time, Barb loved spending time in her kitchen, making meals for herself and others, teaching her sons to cook, or quietly sipping coffee and reading the books that were her constant companions, especially mystery novels. Barb frequently turned the open spaces of her kitchen into spontaneous dance floors, loved dancing with her three sons, Brian and twins Mark and Jay, and would brag that they learned their steps in her kitchen. She often was the first to dance at concerts, parties, or weddings, while encouraging others to join her, especially to the sound of her favorite band, the Rolling Stones, along with many other musicians she adored in a life often filled with music.

Barb also was an avid sports fan and a lifelong and devoted follower of her hometown teams, especially the Celtics. Barb spent many evenings in front of a television with a cup of tea, cheering her favorite players and shouting at Bird to take the shot, Ainge to make the pass, or McHale and Parish to grab that rebound. She proudly wore clothes advertising her enthusiastic support for the Red Sox and for Boston College, where she happily attended football games and reunions. 

Barb treasured the many close relationships she maintained throughout her life and loved to tell stories to all who would listen. She also loved antiques and old homes and brought that interest to her years of work with the Bangor Historical Society. She filled her own homes with vegetables from her gardens, blooming flowers, overflowing plants, and pampered cats.

Barb loved family first and foremost. When sons Mark and Jay married fellow BC Eagles Sam and Jenni, and then grew their families with four grandchildren, Barb could not possibly have been happier. She loved every single thing those grandchildren did and said and beamed with pride when talking about them.

Barb is survived by her sons Brian Hannon of Bangkok, Thailand; Jay Hannon of Media, Pennsylvania, and his wife Jenni McKee; and Mark Hannon of Jackson, Wyoming, and his wife Samantha Hannon; as well as her beloved grandchildren Lila Bea, Francis, Fergus, and Eleanor Hannon. She also is survived by her sister Janice McCarthy and her husband Bob McCarthy; her brother Bill Donovan and his wife Laura Donovan; and her nieces and nephews Colleen McCarthy, Michael McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Brenna Donovan, Will Donovan, Shaun Hannon, and Cindy Hannon, and her dearest friend Norma Crichton. Barb is pre-deceased by her adored parents, William and Mary Donovan, and by Frank Hannon and John Vishio.

Loud, brave, forceful, and rarely shy, but also caring, gentle, sophisticated, and insightful, Barb was loved by a large circle of family and friends. Whether in the role of mother, wife, sister, aunt, companion, care provider, business owner, colleague, academic, sports fan, cook, reader, or dancer, Barb Hannon poured her full self into everything she did. This passion will be the example and legacy she leaves for all who knew and loved her.

Relatives and friends are invited to her Visitation Monday, February 16, 2026 10am O'Leary Funeral Home, 640 E. Springfield Rd. Springfield, PA 19064 and to her Funeral Service 11am in the Funeral Home. Burial Private.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association, https://www.lbda.org/donate