James Dominic Monahan

James Dominic “Dom” Monahan, 86, passed away peacefully on July 6, 2025. Dom was a devoted husband to his wife, Judith Elizabeth “Judy” Monahan, and a loving and tireless father and grandfather to his five children and eight grandchildren.

Dom was born in Heppner, Oregon on October 19, 1938. After graduating from the University of Portland and serving in the U.S. Air Force, Dom attended the evening program at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC. After graduation, he met Judy at the Hawk & Dove, and they married at St. Joseph’s Church on August 2, 1969.

Dom and Judy lived and raised their five children on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, until they moved back to his beloved Oregon, settling in Eugene in 1993. After Judy passed away in 2004, Dom continued to live and practice law in Eugene until he eventually returned to the Washington, DC, area in 2014 and settled in Northern Virginia.

In Dom’s professional life, he was a communications lawyer who advised television and radio broadcasters as a partner at Dow, Lohnes, & Albertson in Washington, DC, and as a partner at Luvaas, Cobb, Richards, & Frazier in Eugene, from which he eventually retired after more than 40 years of practice.

Dom’s life was far more than his law practice. His family and friends knew him to be a man of faith, a man who loved his family, one who embraced his Irish heritage, a voracious reader and student of history, and a man who could not leave a gathering until he had visited with every person in attendance.

He always made time.

He made time for his faith by serving as a Eucharistic minister, volunteering to build homes for the poor in Mexico, sponsoring seminarians, hosting guests of his parish in his home, and generally stepping up wherever he found a need.

He made time for his children and family. First, by serving on school boards, designing artwork, sets, and marketing campaigns for Trinity Players Children’s Theatre, driving carpools to school, practices, games, and recitals, and volunteering at his children’s various schools. Later, he made time for their professional and academic pursuits, always encouraging and supporting them, despite their varied—and occasionally shifting—paths. Dom knew each and every one of his children’s friends because—often to their horror—he made time to catch those friends as they made their way past his ever-welcoming kitchen table or wherever he was holding court and talk to them. Finally, he made time for his eight grandchildren. Dom saw his grandchildren play sports, perform on stage, win awards and Scout badges, and graduate from schools and universities across three time zones.

Dom made time to better himself and was an incredible example to his family that we are never done learning. He was a voracious reader. Every one of his children and even a few grandchildren at some point took his book off his chest and reading glasses off his head while he snored. He filled every space he ever inhabited with books (many of which he actually read), he joined academic dinner clubs, wrote papers and presented on scholarly topics, and eventually became involved with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and its annual events.

Dom made time to learn about and teach his family (and anyone in shouting distance) about his Irish heritage and its part in his Eastern Oregon roots. He travelled to Ireland several times later in his life to connect with cousins he had found through a lifetime of letter-writing and genealogy research. Dom never cared how distant the family ties may have been—family was family to him. For years, he made his annual pilgrimage to Heppner to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a grand parade, a classic radio show, where he shared bad jokes and welcomed great Irish music, and evenings spent around roaring fires (permits optional) and crowded pubs until he had visited with everyone in attendance.

Dom made time to laugh with people and never wasted a minute taking himself too seriously. Dom never met a stranger. He loved an event for the chance it gave him to connect with and enjoy people. He was funny, charming, and an active and engaged listener. Throughout his life, he hosted parties, celebrations, tailgates, and large Thanksgivings open to all, where he sported ridiculous hats and comical pants and spent the day glowing from the warmth of the community he sought to build.

Dom is survived by his son, James Michael Monahan II, of Chicago, Illinois, his wife, Joy Lyu Monahan, and their son, James Dominic “JD” II; his daughter, Patricia “Amy” Reischauer, of Alexandria, Virginia, her husband, Tae-Peter Danton Reischauer, and their three children, Emily “Jade,” Caitlin Elizabeth, and Chase Danton; his son, Christopher Brady Monahan, of Alexandria, Virginia, his wife, Leslie Ann Monahan, and their three children, Christopher "Brady" Jr., Caroline Grace, and Jonathan Maxwell; his son, Matthew Sean Francis Monahan, of Seattle, Washington; and his daughter, Melissa Suzanne Monahan, of Blue River, Oregon, her partner, Chad Hall, and her son, Aiden Brady “Boba” Eckart. Dom was preceded in death by his wife, Judith Elizabeth (Baran) Monahan, his parents, James Michael and Camilla Dolores (Kilkenny), and his siblings Michael Francis Monahan, William Peter “Billy” Monahan, Mary Ann Monahan, and Teresa Margaret Hoffman.

A graveside service will be held at 2 pm on Saturday, October 18, 2025, at the Masonic Cemetery in Heppner, OR, followed by a gathering at the Heppner Elks Lodge. Family and friends celebrated a funeral mass on August 1, 2025, at Holy Trinity Church in Washington, DC.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society.