William John Donnelly

William J. Donnelly (Bill), 77, of Secaucus, NJ, died at home on Monday, June 23, 2014. Bill is survived by his loving wife, Patricia, his daughters, Erina and Peggy, his son Christopher, and many nieces, nephews, and grandchildren.

Bill retired as a tenured professor of communications and advertising after 22 years at Temple University in 2012, subsequent to a storied career in advertising, where he was a Senior Vice President at Young & Rubicam. He was the author of several books including The Confetti Generation, Planning Media: Strategy and Imagination, and Coping Catholic: A Memoir in Practical Faith.

After his first book was published, Bill was called “a media guru” by Ted Turner, “a seminal thinker” by Broadcasting Magazine, and “the best known agency expert in the [then] new technologies” by Advertising Age.

Bill earned his B.A. in English from Fordham University and his M.F.A. in Theater from The Catholic University of America. After graduate school, Bill joined the faculty of Loyola University, Los Angeles. He began a writing career with a TV/Film column, which was eventually syndicated in 41 diocesan newspapers. He worked as a magazine editor and film writer before becoming the News Director for KCET-TV.

Bill had recently been working on his latest book, which he planned to call Cognitive Imagination: Where Creative Thinking Lives and Works. He was also active in civic life, and had served for several years on the Secaucus Board of Education.

Friends and relatives are invited for visitation on Thursday from 6:30-9:30 PM at Mack Memorial Home, 1245 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus. The family will gather at the funeral home with their relatives and friends on Friday at 9:00 AM for a 10:00 AM funeral mass at Immaculate Conception Church, Secaucus. Cremation will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of William may be made in his honor to Planned Parenthood or the Secaucus Animal Shelter.