Malcolm McDonald
Posted By Royer on November 30, 2009
Malcolm H. McDonald, 88, passed away peacefully Saturday, November 28, 2009, at the John Knox Care Village Center in Lee’s Summit, MO. A memorial service will be held at the Royer-Hays Funeral Home in Blue Springs, MO, on Wednesday, December 2, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. preceding the service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations in Mac’s memory be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
“Mac” McDonald was born July 3, 1921, in Minneapolis, MN to Daniel and Harryet Chesney (Herr) McDonald. He married his college sweetheart, Dorothy Thompson May 21, 1943, on the shores of Lake Emma, in Dorset, Minnesota. He received a degree in engineering from the University of North Dakota just before entering the Military. Mac served as a Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers in England and France during WWII building Bailey Bridges. After the war he received a degree in Mining Engineering from the Missouri School of Mines at Rolla, Missouri. He worked for Harbison-Walker Refractories Company in Fulton, Missouri and later in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mac was an avid sailor, and he and his wife, Dorothy, spent many days cruising on the Lake of the Ozarks and later on Lake Erie and all the other Great Lakes aboard the “Esprit.” He was a Rotarian and lifetime member of the South Hills Power Squadron in Pittsburg, and he delighted in teaching water safety and boating courses through the years, inviting many friends and family to spend time with him on his sailboat. He served on national committees of the United States Power Squadron. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Fulton, Missouri and the Southminster Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
He was preceded in death by his much-beloved wife, Dorothy, and a daughter Amy.
Mac is survived by a son; Bob McDonald and Amy Parker of Kansas City, MO, a sister; Adair Murphy of Fresno, CA and grandchildren Michael Bergesch, Michelle Bergesch, Matthew McDonald and Susan Pilgram.
The family wants to recognize and thank the staff of John Knox and of Village Hospice who so lovingly cared for Mac during his stay at the John Knox Village Care Center.