Acclaimed educator and photographer Patrick O’Donnell passed away March 27 at his home in Fountain Valley following a battle with cancer. He was 83.
At Cal State Fullerton, O’Donnell fulfilled both roles, devoting seven years to part- and full-time teaching as a lecturer in the communications department, then joining Public Affairs as photographer, the first in that staff role for the university. He spent 17 years documenting virtually every milestone in the university’s history during that period, retiring in 2007 as university photographer emeritus.
Those milestones ranged from 40th and 50th anniversary celebrations, to commencement ceremonies and the arrival of a new president, from groundbreakings to ribbon-cuttings, from star-studded concerts and speaking engagements to awards ceremonies. He made two trips to the White House with the Titans to chronicle the College World Series-winners celebrating their championships with two U.S. presidents, Bill Clinton in 1995 and George H.W. Bush in 2005, and followed the team to Disneyland to document their parade ride down Main Street.
On campus, he most often focused his lens on students, alumni and faculty members, illustrating their varied activities, achievements and gatherings.
His assignments included Kevin Costner Day in 1992 when the Oscar-winning CSUF graduate returned to his alma mater to speak to students and throw the ceremonial first pitch at Titan Stadium. In 1999, he photographed Costner wearing a Titan jersey at Angel Stadium, where the Titans played an exhibition game with the Angels. Another highlight was covering a 2000 visit to campus by the Dalai Lama, who spoke before a packed audience in the Titan Student Union.
In 2002, O’Donnell traveled with the university’s Fudan delegation to China, serving as both photographer and ambassador for CSUF. In addition, he was tapped to be photo marshal for the team handball venue during the 1984 Summer Olympics when the university’s Titan Gym hosted the event.
Along the way, O’Donnell earned the university’s 2001 Outstanding Staff Award and built a strong bond with its longest-serving president, Milton A. Gordon.
“In all the categories for which campus members are evaluated for the Outstanding Staff Award — creativity, initiative, teamwork, promotion of the university’s image in the community and contribution to the university as a whole, you, Pat, scored so high as to join this elite group of campus members who perform at the highest levels,” Gordon wrote in a letter to O’Donnell.
His photos were published in a variety of university publications, including Titan Magazine, Compendium, Titan News, Dateline, TrunkLines, Inside, Benefactor, Celebrating Excellence, It’s Our University and the Daily Titan, as well as on the university’s website and the Titan Channel.
In the communications department, the longtime newspaper photographer taught photojournalism and basic photography, recruiting award-winning newspaper photographers as guest speakers for his classes.
“Patrick O’Donnell swept onto campus in 1983 and joined our photo faculty with all the passion and intensity of a spot news photographer on location with a tight deadline,” said David DeVries, communications professor emeritus, in 2006 when O’Donnell was honored for his teaching by the National Press Photographers Association. “He seemed to know everybody in the world of photojournalism, and they knew him back. Within months of joining our faculty, O’Donnell established a student chapter of the NPPA and organized many student contests.”
O’Donnell was proud of the career success enjoyed by his former students, who were hired onto the staffs of major newspapers and magazines, including National Geographic.
When then-President Ronald Reagan visited the university in 1988, O’Donnell covered his speech and interactions with Jewel Plummer Cobb, then-president of CSUF. Afterward, she praised O’Donnell’s “exceptional rapport” with the Secret Service and his “fantastic close-up photos” of the visit. O’Donnell had secured a special credential, identifying him as a White House pool photographer, granting him close proximity to the stage and to the on-campus helicopter landing of Marine One.
Throughout his early career as a newspaper photographer for the Orange Coast Daily Pilot and Whittier Daily News, O’Donnell had gained experience interacting with the Secret Service to chronicle current, former and would-be U.S presidents in Orange County — from the Western White House at La Casa Pacifica in San Clemente to Mile Square Park for the campaign launches of both Gerald Ford and Reagan.
His 60-year career in photography is showcased in his 2024 memoir, “What Do 11 U.S. Presidents, the Dalai Lama and Whoopi Have in Common?” O’Donnell gave slide-show presentations to campus and community audiences, including for the emeriti and served as the emeriti organization’s photographer after his retirement.
From covering Nixon in his hometown and beyond, to Dwight Eisenhower’s appearance at the 1964 Rose Bowl, O’Donnell went on to photograph nine additional U.S. presidents over the decades, most recently Joe Biden at Irvine Valley College in 2022.
“You would have to walk in Patrick O’Donnell’s shoes to understand what it means to be a local journalist in the second-largest media market in the country,” noted Vikki Vargas, former Orange County Bureau chief for KNBC-TV, in the forward to O’Donnell’s book. “What this memoir says is that over 60 years, O’Donnell never lost his passion for the pursuit and never lost the gratitude of being among those with a front-row seat to history.”
Among O’Donnell’s other notable subjects were such luminaries as Margaret Thatcher, Jerry Brown, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, LeAnn Rimes, Nicolas Cage, John Wayne, George C. Scott and Groucho Marx.
While photographing the early years of the university’s Front & Center events, his portfolio of celebrities grew to include Colin Powell, Tony Bennett, Kenny Loggins, Walter Cronkite, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Cosby, Ben Vereen, the Doobie Brothers and Al Franken.
O’Donnell’s photojournalism journey began in the late 1950s at Whittier High, where he “caught the photo bug” in his sophomore year. In his book, he credited his photography instructor Ernie Hemmerling as “that one inspirational teacher who made all the difference.”
By the age of 17, O’Donnell had earned enough money at part-time jobs to assemble a darkroom and buy a Speed Graphic 4×5 camera, considered the camera of choice for press photographers from the 1930s-1950s. Over the years, he moved on to 35 mm and, ultimately, digital cameras.
Following his newspaper career, O’Donnell launched a freelance photography business with his wife, Peggy. Among their clients: the Orange County and California State fairs, Orange County Forum, Orange County Performing Arts Center and many nonprofits.
His numerous photo awards span prizes from the Associated Press to sweepstakes and “Best News Photo of the Year” awards from the California Press Photographers Association. Locally, he won dozens of first-place awards from the Orange County Press Club, which also gave O’Donnell its highest honor, the Sky Dunlap Award, for outstanding lifetime achievement and community service.
In 2024, O’Donnell received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles. He served stints as president of that association, as well as the California Press Photographers Association and Orange County Press Club.
He earned an associate degree at Cerritos College, a bachelor’s degree at Cal State Long Beach, and from UCLA, a lifetime teaching credential for community colleges.
O’Donnell served as a sergeant in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, based at March Air Force Base in Riverside from 1965-71, with the 452nd Military Airlift Wing. As the non-commissioned officer in charge of the Wing Information Unit, he chronicled Air Force missions to Southeast Asia, Europe and Alaska.
In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by their sons, Ryan and Steven (Kevin passed in 2000); daughters-in-law, Andrea and Maggie; and grandchildren, Alex, Rachel, Mikey and Shane. Services are pending.