John Joseph Mcdonald

John Joseph McDonald was born in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania on October 23rd, 1945. He grew up in the North woods of Pennsylvania in the Irish/Italian town of Johnsonburg, nestled in a little valley among the trees. Thanks to his father, the Mayor, John became a firefighter as a teenager and was also employed by the local paper mill to bring in logs from the forest. His nickname was Smokey the Bear, a name that friends still call him, either "Smokey" or "Bear". John was a bear of a man too at six foot two inches and a stalwart 300 pounds, and with his full mustache he resembled President Howard Taft.

John graduated from Penn State University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Logistics. His chosen career with federal government spanned 35 years. Culminating in letters of commendation from Presidents Clinton and Bush for outstanding service. Beginning with NASA in Washington, D.C., John made an impression among the Astronauts, especially Neil Armstrong and the rocket scientist Dr. Wernher von Braun, who affectionately call him "Mac".

When the space program was declining in the 70's, John ventured west to Kansas City where he accepted a position as Grants and Contracts Officer for ACTION, the volunteer agency i.e. Peace Corps, Foster Grandparents and other programs. John was given a going away present of high-powered binoculars and a Nikon camera. He employed both of these gifts in wooing his future wife after spying on her from a balcony at the singles complex where they resided. John finally introduced himself to his future girlfriend, Miss Beverly Shriner and discovered she worked for the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development in an adjoining building. They began commuting together and John mesmerized Beverly for the next 45 years with his gift for conversation, anecdotes and funny jokes and stories.

Beverly and her three sisters lift Kansas City to join the Horace Heidt Orchestra at the renowned Drake Hotel in Chicago. Billed as the Shriner Sisters, they sang with the "Musical Knights" 1972-73. But a real knight was waiting in the wings, John McDonald.

John won Beverly's heart with a penned proposal promising their own singing Quartet, the McDonald Sisters. Seven years later, the four McDonald Sisters became a reality. Born near San Francisco, where John and Beverly had relocated and worked together and recording songs Beverly had written. Their first names were Heidi, Aubri, Mindi and Shannon. They became know as the HAMS. Joh was known as Big Mac and Beverly's nickname was Beef Short for Beverly Frances, the McDonald Family was complete.

John's next big adventure was accepting a position as District Director in New England. Moving from Concord, California to Concord, New Hampshire, his young family had great times living on two and a half acres in the woods. The next move was back to Kansas City where John's last job was an appointment to be Missouri State Director for AARP in the Country Club Plaza. John served as board Vice President of the Shepherd Center in Kansas City. John had a great reserve of stamina in all areas of life. Following a a failed gall bladder operation, John endured immense pain and immeasurable suffering for the last 1,073 days of his life. He kept a cheerful and optimistic attitude with the hope he would walk again and return to family which by then had grown to three granddaughters.

His epitaph might read:

In a Sunflower Land he found his sun who shone on him on spring

In a Golden Land he found his gold in four little girls who sing

In a Granit Land he found his rock, his home in a wood rising

In a Heavenly Land he found his Friend, his Saviour and King.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world" - the Holy Bible

Funeral service will be 10:00 a.m. Thursday, March 30 at the Amos Family Funeral Home; burial in the St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be 6-8:00 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home.