William Donnelly; Publisher of Military Magazines

William Francis Donnelly, 76, who helped build the Army Times Publishing Co., later named the Times-Journal Co., into the nation’s largest producer of military magazines. Born in Cleveland and reared in Washington, D.C., Donnelly began working in the mail room of his stepfather’s company, Happy Days Publishing. That company became the parent of Army Times Publishing, which produces Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, Federal Times and Defense News, all weekly newspapers popular in the military and defense industries. The company also publishes five suburban Washington newspapers. Donnelly joined the circulation department in 1951, heading its printing operations in Tokyo and Frankfurt during the buildup of American troops in South Vietnam. He was named vice president in 1968 and president in 1971. Gannett Co., the nation’s largest newspaper chain, bought the operation a few years ago. Donnelly was a Navy pilot during World War II and later earned a law degree from George Washington University. On Monday in Potomac, Md., of cancer.