The O’Neill Irish Walk of Fame are pleased to announce our two recipients this year and our newest members of the O’Neill Irish Walk of Fame!!
The annual celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in O’Neill, NE, is well known throughout the state of Nebraska.
There are a lot of locals who helped organize and kick-start different ideas over the years, but two names essential for the early formation are Don and Charlotte Linquist.
Both are well known for being active throughout their lifetimes in Holt County, but for those closest to them, they are most recognized for being associated with the St. Patrick’s Day festivities!
Don and Charlottee were married on March 16, 1968, and moved to O’Neill in the Fall of 1970. It was then that Don found work as a bouncer for the teen dances at the American Legion Club. Here is where it was mentioned to him that he should join the Jaycees and Charlotte should join the Mrs. Jaycee’s.
The first Jaycee-organized celebration of St. Patrick’s Day was held in 1967 (which was also the Nebraska Centennial year). Working at the Legion was how Don and Charlotte got their first taste of working in O’Neill for St. Patrick’s Day. Don was always active in town, but when he joined the Jaycees in the Fall of 1970, he could always be found working or taking part in the organization’s many activities.
Don was one of the 13 original members of the Irish Booster Band (which was started in 1967), playing the garden gate, and in later years, playing the washtub. Their most popular song, “The Night That Patty Murphy Died”, could be heard throughout the parade. Skits were performed during the parades, with one of THE most famous (and most talked about) being the manhole skit. Speaking of the parade, on more than one occasion, Charlotte mentioned that she never knew that carrying a 5-gallon bucket of candy through the parade could be so heavy!
Charlotte was partly responsible for the Kid’s carnival that started on St. Pat’s. She remembered that when she was a kid in Spencer, NE, in February, there was a carnival of hearts for the kid’s that involved prizes. She thought about having one in O’Neill, so she mentioned it to the Mrs. Jaycees. Why not have something like that for the kids on St. Patrick’s Day? Most of the celebration revolved around the adults, so the thought of having something for the kids could make it all inclusive and give the parents something for the kiddos to do! She says the carnival started at the old elementary school, maybe in the late 70’s, and remembers that Pat Fritz worked at the Chamber of Commerce Office and helped them out A LOT.
It took loads of planning from everyone involved, and Planning for St. Patrick’s Day usually started in early January.
There were many things that had to happen behind the scenes as well for the St. Pat’s parade and carnival to go off without a hitch. Don and Charlotte both spent a lot of time in preparation for the events (ordering buttons, for example) and going to meetings beforehand, planning the many activities that were to happen. Don Jr. remembers one year, Don and Charlotte both spending hours scraping the logos off of the leftover mugs they had used the previous year to reuse them for the following year’s celebrations. Charlotte had the O’Neill China Painting club, then add the new year to the old mugs! Talk about being thrifty! There was always a lot of commotion during the weeklong preparation for St. Pat’s at the Linquist house!
Don also joined the American Legion Club, and he and Charlotte worked at the Legion for over 20 years, starting in the 1970’s and going until the 1990’s. In fact, he and Charlotte were proud to have worked every weekend at the Legion Club, except for St. Pat’s weekends. That’s when Charlotte would be busy setting up the kids carnival, and Don was busy being involved with the Jaycees and the Booster Club.
They both were involved until the late 1990’s, when their first granddaughter, Rebecca, came along. They decided they wanted to be grandparents and decided to hang it up.
Don often spoke of his time involved with St. Patrick’s Day and how busy the weekends would be. He and Charlotte were both truly involved members and important parts of the St. Patrick’s Day history for our wonderful town of O’Neill.
Jack and Donna’s Irish roots in O’Neill go back further than the first St. Pat’s parade.
Donna’s family, the Harte’s, emigrated from County Cork in 1865. They settled in Scranton, PA, before homesteading in Holt County in the 1870’s. As a child, Donna remembers her Aunt Sadie sending her a postcard from a trip to Ireland in 1958. This sparked the young girl’s dream of someday going there herself.
Jack’s McGinn ancestors were originally from County Monaghan. By 1956, his family was living in O’Neill, where his dad was the Schlitz distributor. Jack made his reputation as a boxer, & fought his way to Midwest fame as “Irish Jack” McGinn, the Golden Gloves Boxing Champion of 1961 and ‘62. He graduated from OHS in 1962, lettering 4 years in
Football & Track. Donna graduated from Saint Mary’s in 1967. Many good times were had celebrating O’Neill St. Patrick’s Day in the 1960’s. One memorable occasion found Jack, riding backward on the green horse behind Pete Matthews in the Parade. Another memorable incident took place during the Jaycee-sponsored “Fenian Invasion of Canada” in 1967. When their bus stopped in Aberdeen SD, the local lawmen arrested Jack, along with hardened criminals Gil Poese and Gordon Mitchell, for the offense of intending to incite a riot. Luckily, it was all in good fun.
Donna and Jack began courtin’ while boating & waterskiing with friends on the Missouri River in 1968. They married in 1969. The next several decades found them living & working in Omaha while raising their 2 sons, Mike and Danny, and one daughter, Traci. The couple now has 3 grandchildren, Alyssa, Madison, & Grace. Plus a granddog, Sullivan.
Donna was a Special Ed Paraeducator, working for Omaha Public Schools for 27 years. In her free time, she enjoyed attending concerts by The Turfmen featuring Tom Riley at the Brazen Head, or going to McGowans, the Green Onion, or the Holiday Bar. To this day she is always down to go hear a good Irish band! Jack began his career at Otis Elevator. He went on to be a 40-year member of the International Union of Elevator Constructors. He also served as Deputy State Athletic Commissioner under Governors Exon, Orr, Thone, and Kerry.
The couple moved back to O’Neill in the early 2000’s to help care for Donna’s mom. Along with a group including 10 members of the Harte family, they made a trip to Ireland in 2005. When the O’Neill Irish Walk of Fame was organized in 2015, they were among the early members. Jack’s prodigious skills as a hog-butcherer, beer-drinker, and hog-roaster, were put into service for the IWOF’s famous pork feeds. Jack has also been active by seeing to the annual installation of the IWOF granite stones in the sidewalks. Plus assisting with the painting of the shamrocks on sidewalks and driveways throughout the town. He and Donna participated in the IWOF’s Booster Bus tours to promote O’Neill’s St. Pat’s celebration to other towns. Donna also belongs to the Fenian Women’s Auxiliary, appearing in parade entries, & helping with the Gen. John O’Neill statue project. When Donna’s mom, Vera, was chosen as Fenian Queen in 2018 at the age of 100, she rode in style in Donna’s 1967 Cadillac convertible, with Jack at the wheel. Lastly, Donna, with help from family and friends, took on the project of restoring the Watson Hay Co. and Inman Leader building at Inman. And, many an afternoon & evening, she can still be found working behind the bar at the well-known Harte’s Pub.
When asked what being Irish means to her, Donna mentions the socializing, the Irish music, and pride in the fact that the land homesteaded by her Irish ancestors, is still in the family. For his part, Jack has a favorite axiom: There are only 2 nationalities; The Irish, and those who wish they were!
Donna and Jack McGinn have demonstrated a life of service to others, and to their Irish heritage. We honor them by being inducted to the 2026 O’Neill Irish Walk of Fame.
