By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

NORWOOD - Maurine E. Johnson O'Donnell, the woman whose enthusiasm and dedication kept the inner-city ministry CityCURE - going for 35 years, died in her sleep May 19 at her home in Norwood. She was 78.

CityCURE provides services to more than 2,000 people a month.

"Without a doubt, the organization would have closed without her," said CityCURE President Roger Howell. Whenever difficulties threatened to overwhelm the board, Mrs. O'Donnell went to the members and said, 'Look, we have some problems. But, it's worth it. Changing lives takes time. Just hang in there.' "

"She made sure the organization stayed true to its mission," Howell said.

Mrs. O'Donnell's presence in the neighborhood surrounding CityCURE's office was a given.

"She reached people she wasn't even aware of," said Debbie Welsh of the East End, a friend and CityCURE volunteer. "She walked the mean streets of Over-the-Rhine and Mount Auburn and people on the streets respected her. On the surface, she looked like an ordinary woman, but she was no ordinary woman."

Mrs. O'Donnell felt "welcomed by the people in that neighborhood," Howell said. "They treated her with dignity and honor. The young men sitting on the steps would say 'Good morning Mother,' when she passed. They didn't all know her, but they knew who she was and what she did. She loved God and it just radiated out from her."

A native of Fergus Falls, Minn., Mrs. O'Donnell grew up in St. Paul. She attended Northwestern Bible School in Minneapolis for three years and took a year of nurse training.

She moved to Greater Cincinnati in 1954 when her husband, Felix O'Donnell, a Covington native, finished a hitch with the Air Force.

After raising their two children and working briefly for the IRS, she joined the staff at CityCURE when it opened as Christians United Reaching Everyone in 1969.

"She's been an active Christian all her life," said her son J. Michael O'Donnell, a missionary in Istanbul. "She came into contact with this newly developing organization and very much liked their program of helping poor inner-city needy people."

Mrs. O'Donnell took on a variety of jobs from bookkeeping to running clubs for kids in Price Hill, Howell said. "She became our prayer director and encourager. She liked to walk the neighborhood and pray for people as she walked. She interacted with the clients and the families and was just part of the fabric of CityCURE for more than 30 years.

"She was not a person to seek the spotlight, but somehow the light was all around her," Howell said. "She brought God's love into everyday life."

Mrs. O'Donnell was a member of Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in Norwood.

Her daughter, Teresa Lynn Mary, died in 1980.

In addition to her son and husband, survivors include a sister, B. Jo Peterson of Charlotte, N.C.; and three grandchildren.

Visitation is 9-11 a.m. Wednesday at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, 4255 Ashland Ave. in Norwood, with funeral to follow. Burial will be at Hopewell Cemetery.

Memorials: CityCURE, 1947 Auburn Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45219 or Ashland Avenue Baptist Church Missionary Fund, 4255 Ashland Ave., Norwood, OH 45212.