Hub philanthropist Joe O’Donnell died Sunday at age 79 after a long battle with cancer. He was one of Boston’s hard-working and successful nice guys.

He’s also a hero in the fight against cystic fibrosis.

“It’s amazing to see these kids now breathing like race horses, playing hockey, doing stuff they never dreamed they’d do,” O’Donnell told the Herald in 2016 at the “Joey” film showing about his son’s battle with cystic fibrosis. His son died at the age of 12.

“We started with this thing 32 years ago and right now we’re doing over $1 million a year,” O’Donnell told the Herald that day. “It’s a big, friendly cocktail party and a nice movie and people love it.”

That tally has since topped $500 million through The Joey Fund. 

The FDA has approved the drugs Orkambi and Kalydeco, important advances for a large portion of patients stricken by CF, the Herald reported.

“Right now, we’ve got a drug for about 60 percent of our kids,” O’Donnell said back in 2016 of the advancements.

O’Donnell attended Malden Catholic High School and Phillips Exeter Academy before enrolling in Harvard College in 1963. After receiving a degree in government, he earned his M.B.A. in 1971. At Harvard, he was a six-time letter winner in football and baseball, and captained the baseball team as a senior, his Exeter bio states.

O’Donnell founded Boston Culinary Group Inc. (originally Boston Concessions Group Inc.) in 1976, which grew into a major food service corporation. The company merged with Centerplate in 2010, the bio adds.

In 1986, the O’Donnells founded the Joey Fund in memory of their son, who had died of cystic fibrosis earlier that year at age 12. O’Donnell was also a trustee of the National Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which twice presented him with the Breath of Life Award, its highest honor, the bio states.

When former Mayor Tom Menino announced his retirement in 2012, O’Donnell told the Herald, “I’ll never forget that night, about five years ago. … You attended two fundraisers, lit seven Christmas trees and made nine speeches. After all that, I was exhausted, but you turned to us and asked, ‘So where are we going to dinner?’”

O’Donnell, who also once made a bid for both the Patriots and the Red Sox, was always lauded for his big smile.

As the Herald reported in 2015, the late Eddie Andelman — a radio legend in the city — ran into O’Donnell and told him he had gathered a busload of his listeners to go to Connecticut in search of the best hot dog.

Andelman had an idea: Why not do the same thing to benefit the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis, a rare disease that at the time killed most children before they reached 18.

“We could call it the Hot Dog Safari,” Andelman said.

“I told him he was nuts. It was like Jason searching for the golden fleece,” O’Donnell said. “Eddie was looking for the perfect hot dog.”

The two headed out soon after in search of that perfect hot dog.

Funeral information was not immediately available.

RIP Joe.

Joey O’Donnell (Joeyfund.org)
Kathy and Joe O’Donnell and daughters Casey and Kate O’Donnell will host The 31st annual Joey O’Donnell Film Premiere in 2016. (Herald file photo)