Donald Byrne McDonah, MD, FCFP, FAAHPM

On November 30, 2025, Donald Byrne McDonah MD, FCFP, FAAHPM “Dr. Who” succumbed to his almost 40-year battle with multiple sclerosis at the Community Hospice House in Merrimack, NH. Born July 5, 1956, in Halifax, N.S. to Donald Gordon and Mona Marie (Williams) McDonah.

Don was a 1981 graduate of Dalhousie Medical School in Halifax, N.S. After completing a two-year family medicine residency, he moved to Saint John, N.B. where he joined Dr. Mike Keating in the practice of family medicine.

Don cared for patients from their first breath to their last, finding time for work in the emergency department and perform house calls. His passion for his patients resonated throughout the community.

Don became passionate about palliative medicine, opening the Palliative Care Unit at the Saint John Regional Hospital. He studied at Countess Mountbatten House, Southampton and with Dame Cicely Saunders at St. Christopher’s Hospice.

Don was a founding member of the Canadian Palliative Care Association. While in Saint John, he was president of the New Brunswick College of Family Physicians and sat on the board of the Canadian College of Family Physicians.

In 1994, Don moved to Nashua where he practiced family medicine and began a Palliative Care Program with the supportive administration at St. Joseph Hospital. He became board certified in both family medicine and hospice and palliative medicine.

Eventually Don left family medicine to focus solely on palliative medicine advocating for the needs of palliative patients through attempting to initiate an outpatient palliative care program and the initiation of a palliative care consult at time of diagnosis. It was his goal to impress upon the current administration of the benefit of palliative medicine in the lives of their patients.

Don was honored to be have been named a Fellow of the Canadian College of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Don was a United Way volunteer, member of the NH Hospice Alliance, a board member for Granite State Independent Living, and a board member and president of SymphonyNH.

Don is predeceased by his parents and siblings, Neal McDonah, Anne McDonald, Sheila Landry, as well as aunts and uncles, including Uncle Byrne, on the morning of November 30, 2025.

He is survived by his wife Cathy, his children Liam McDonah, Caitlin McDonah, Mollie (AJ) Bazdanes and granddaughter Lucy Bazdanes; nephews Jack McDonald and family, Owen Landry, brother-in-law Peter Landry, as well as many cousins, extended family members and dear friends.

Thank you to Community Hospice House for their care, Kristen Fox and Chris O’Brien for their guidance and support with medical decision making.

SERVICES: Memorial Visitation will be held on Friday, December 12th, 2025 from 4-7 pm at Phaneuf Funeral Homes & Crematorium, 26 Kinsley Street, Nashua, NH.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 am on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at Immaculate Conception Church, 216 E Dunstable Road Nashua NH. Interment to take place at a later date in Halifax, NS.

Those who wish may make a memorial contribution to Community Hospice House, SymphonyNH, or Granite State Independent Living.