Linda Ann McDonald - a memorial to her life
July 11, 1945 - August 22, 2011
The girls and I went through boxes of photos to find some for the memorial service. Here are the photos selected showing various times in her life, her travels, family and friends. It was very therapeutic for us to reminisce on the great times and memories we had with our dear wife and mother.
Linda was the most beautiful woman I ever met. I was so blessed that she chose to spend her life with me. As our life together progressed, I learned that she was even more beautiful inside as she showered her family with so much love, caring, and affection. She was my soul-mate, best friend and lover for 40 years. We had a magical relationship. The whole was many times greater than the sum of the parts (1+1 = 15). Many people have told us that they could just see the amazing love for each other as they watched us together.
The intense love we had seemed to bubble forth from her and was extended to people who were lucky enough to know her. I know of at least 6 people, outside her family, who consider her to be their best friend.
Here are the few we found of her from before we were married.
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| Linda and her father |
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Linda age 10 with her parents
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Linda - late teens or early 20's
Everyone says she looks like Elizabeth Taylor in this photo |
We met in Toronto in 1970 when I was doing my internship. Like a fairy tale, we fell instantly in love. We married November 6, 1971 - the happiest day of our lives. As we went along in the journey as a couple, we were amazed how similar were our tastes. We would order the same thing in a new restaurant. We liked the same decor, antiques, art etc. It made it very easy to agree on a new purchase, buy a new house etc.
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| Our wedding |
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| Linda & David with my brother Bruce as best man and Linda's aunt Gwen McGrattan as maid of honor |
We had a 5 day honeymoon at a B&B outside Kingston, Ontario called Pine Ledge Inn. It was a beautiful old stone mansion along the St Lawrence River.
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| Linda at Pine Ledge Inn |
After internship, I set up my family practice in July 1971 in Trenton Ontario, a small town on Lake Ontario 100 miles east of Toronto. We bought a small 1200 sq ft split level house. I don't have any photos of that house, but a couple of years later we moved to a larger 2 story. Linda loved to decorate and furnish our houses. When you see all the snow, you know why I love Houston Texas, heat and all!
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| Trenton Ontario - house #2 |
Linda had done some modelling as a teenager and she was always dressed smartly. She loved stylish clothes, jewelry and furs like her favorite movie star - Liz Taylor. As her friend since kindergarten, Sharon Marynick, said 'She loved beauty' (art, antiques etc). I just loved buying her the things that gave her pleasure. She deserved to be spoiled. She truly was my angel on earth. Our first Christmas, I gave her a mink coat.
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| Linda modelling new mink coat - Christmas 1971 |
I adopted Linda's 2 beautiful girls,Sascha and Chantel, from her first marriage. Here they are on our first Christmas together.
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| Chantel, Linda, Sascha - Christmas 1971 |
We had several nice vacations those years in Trenton. Also, my parents had a cottage on Golden Lake in northern Ontario where we spent a lot of time.
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| Club Med - Guadeloupe West Indies |
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| Busch Gardens - Tampa FL |
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| Busch Gardens #2 |
Sascha became interested in horses and wanted to learn riding. So, we found a riding stable near Trenton and we all ended up taking lessons. About 1975, the stable closed and we, in our infinite wisdom, bought the 2 horses that we had been using for our lessons and had become attached to. The only problem was what to do with 2 horses. Thus, we bought our 3rd home in Trenton, a 130 acre farm with a 1900 era old house. We ended up running a boarding stable with 17 horses. Linda had a 'new' old house to renovate and she redid the living room, dining room, kitchen with relish. She even had French suede wallpaper in the living room - beautifully done. It wasn't much to look from the outside, but it was cozy inside. She always made a house into a home.
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| Farm House Trenton |
I have only 1 photo of Linda on hoseback from the farm.
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| Linda with Pete our helper with the horses |
With a large barn etc, the kids had all sorts of animals (horses, dogs, cats, rabbits) and Linda loved them all.
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| Linda and David with Remy - a spaniel someone dropped off |
We lived in Trenton from 1971 to 1977, when we emigrated to the USA. We had met an July 4th, 1970 and we arrived in the Houston area July 4th, 1977, so something told me that the USA was in our future! I went to work at Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena Texas. We purchased a home in El Lago that belonged to astronaut Fred Haise of Apollo 13 fame. It was about 3000 sq feet. Linda enjoyed redecorating it. The move was hard for her, to be so far from her parents, as she was an only child. However frequent visits from our families to Texas and back to Canada gradually eased this burden.
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| 111 Woodland Drive, El Lago - after a rare snow fall |
In Canada, summer beach weather is only 6-8 weeks, so it was a novelty to go to the beach in February. We were amazed that locals abandoned the beaches by Labor Day just like in Canada. Of course, as we became Texanized, we gradually adopted the local ways.
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| Galveston Beach - Feb 1978 |
Many of the photos were loose and undated, so exact times are unclear. We were in that house from 1977 to 1997.
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| Linda and her aunt Gwen McGrattan in the kitchen - probably late 70's |
Linda always enjoyed decorating for the house for Christmas. She would change the theme of the Christmas tree every few years.
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| Linda showing off her tree with bows - late 1980's |
Here we were dressed up to go to a party
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| Linda & David going to a party - probably early 1980's |
She always made events special for the family and friends. Here is a meal in our dining room with table cloth, good china, flowers etc all just for the family.
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| Another special meal from Linda for her family - late 1970's |
I bought her, her first 'special' car in 1985, a Porsche 944. Linda loved that car. At Christmans 1986, I gave her a cell phone to put in it.
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| Linda was proud of her hot red Porsche 944 |
Chantel went on a high school trip to France in the summer of 1988.
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| Linda & Chantel at the airport |
In 1988, we bought a condo on the beach in Galveston. We both loved the water and spent every other weekend there for the next decade. We had a balcony right on the beach and would enjoy having our meals and wine while gazing at the mesmerizing waves. We participated in the Galveston events - Dickens-on-the-Strand, Historic Homes Tour, art walks and especially Mardi Gras. Linda's mother knitted us matching Mardi Gras sweaters. We always were asked where we bought them. We sold the condo in 2001.
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| Decked out for Mardi Gras with the sweater her mother knitted |
One year she decided that she would like to try a hot air balloon ride, so I gave it to her for her birthday.
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Linda at the hot air balloon base
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Linda maintained a lifelong friendship with her kindergarten classmate Sharon Marynick. When we were in Canada, we saw them periodically. But once in Texas, our visits were rare, but Linda and Sharon kept in touch by phone. Linda was almost psychic. She would tell me that she had a dream about Sharon and would call her. Often, Sharon had a problem at the time and was wanting to talk! She and her husband made it to Houston only once, in 2003. However, Sharon came to Houston for a week in February 2011, when Linda was first ill and again on the day of her death, she was able to say her goodbyes.
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| Sharon Marynick with us - 2003 |
When we arrived in Houston, our first friendships were established with other doctors and especially the large contingent of Canadian doctors in our area. Rick and Liz Loynes, and Ross and Barb Webster we had known in Canada.
There was a group of the doctors wives who would dress up and go for lunch once a month.
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| Connie Lopez, Linda, Liz Loynes, Barb Wellman |
We were honored that Rick and Liz Loynes asked us to be Godparents for their first child, James. It was a privilege to participate with their family in James milestones in life - graduations, wedding etc
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| Linda with James - 5th grade award |
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| David, James & Linda at his high school graduation ceremony - 2000 |
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| David, Linda, James Loynes at his high school graduation party |
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| Linda, David, James Loynes at his graduation from Texas A&M Galveston 2004 |
Another example of Linda's unconditional giving of love and support was a mentoring group we organized after the 1992 LA riots. 3 white couples started talking about the tragedy of single black mothers trying to raise sons by themselves. We wondered if it might be possible for white couples to help mentor black boys. We each approached a black couple we knew and asked if it sounded like a possibility. Our friends Dorsey and Charlotte Williams were our couple pair. The whole group got together and hashed out ideas and decided to try it. We contacted schools etc to find some deserving black mother with one or more black sons. Our family was Sharon Wright of Dickinson with her 2 boys, Bobby and Anthony. The group was called SALT (Serving and Learning Together)
The idea was to take the boys for an outing once a month and the whole group would do big events - a day at the beach on Galveston, Thanksgiving party, Christmas party etc. This was to be an ongoing process for many years if it worked. Also, it would expose the children to things that they would never experience. We went to the circus, a pops concert at Jones Hall etc
The group lasted for about 6 years and then disbanded as some people moved away. However, we have kept in touch with the families even afterwards. I saw 2 of the 3 families at the memorial service. We definitely made a difference in the lives of the children and the mothers, as well. Our group of adults also got new friends, so it was a win-win all around.
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| SALT party - Charlotte Williams, Linda and Tonya Moore(one of the mothers) |
We moved to Friendswood TX in 1997. Linda had become tired of the house and had been looking at houses intermittently for several years. One day in early 1997, I got a call at the office "I found the house". I met her there after office and it was perfect. We bought it and now Linda had her 'castle' as she told Sascha. Never was a woman more deserving to finally get the home she ultimately desired. I'm just glad that I was able to provide it for her. It was just shy of 5000 sq feet on 1.5 acres She had a ball decorating it. Even though it is large for the 2 of us, she still manged to make it cozy and warm.
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| Friendswood house 1997 - 2011 |
We have travelled extensively the last 30 years. Overseas, we went to London 4 times, including once when we took her mother, after the death of her father. We went to France twice including a marvellous trip in 1992 with both our girls. We only went to Asia once. It was for our 25th anniversary in 1996. We went to Thailand and Bali. She regrets that she never got to Ireland where her father was born.
We went to Mexico a few times, but the squalor and poverty upset her. Thus for winter vacations, we started going to beautiful Hawaii - late 90's and early 00's. Eventually she tired of the long flights, so we tried Florida in the last 5 years.
In the USA, we went to Colorado in the summer, Seattle, Vancouver and Whistler.
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| Hiking in Colorado |
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| Hawaii |
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Butchart Gradens - Victoria BC
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However, we were like homing pigeons to California. We discovered Carmel on a trip to San Francisco in 1982. A friend told us that Carmel was beautiful and we should drive down to see it. Well, we fell in love instantly and have vacationed there ever since. I suppose that we may have spent almost 1.5 years there, a week at a time. I would suggest in January to go back to Europe. Linda would say maybe, but lets wait a while. Then by May, it was 'Oh lets just go back to Carmel'. It was easy and restful. Carmel contains great restaurants, antique stores, good quality shops, and loads of art galleries. The scenery along Big Sur south of Carmel was spectacular. It became our second home. We loved it so much, we took my parents on a trip, and Linda's mother another time. Both our girls loved Carmel, as well. Sascha and Scott went there for their honeymoon, and now they are also hooked.
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| Carmel always has beautiful flowers - early 80's |
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| Morning coffee |
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| Nepenthe Restaurant - Big Sur |
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| Morning routine - walk on the beach with a large java |
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| Lunch at Nepenthe - Big Sur with David's parents |
We met several of the artists and became friends with them. We would go out for dinner or be invited to their houses for drinks. It was really like a 2nd home. We took this artist, Christine Rosamond, out to dinner. The next day she signed one of her prints for us. We have the print in out breakfast room. 2 weeks later she was swept out to sea and drowned by one of those mystery waves that can occur along the Pacific coast.
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| Christine Rosamond - 2 weeks before her tragic death in 1994 |
The family loved Carmel so much, that we spent New Year's 2000 there.
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| David, Linda, Scott Jordan, Sascha Jordan, Scott Campbell (Chantel's boyfriend), Chantel - New Years 2000 |
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| David and Linda on the deck or our B&B - New Year's 2000 |
Linda loved her pets, especially dogs. We had several dogs in Canada. She liked exotic ones, so we had Afghans and Borzois. However, they were all crazy. She learned her lesson, so in Texas, we just had 2 apricot Standard Poodles. Our current one is Brion and he is a love.
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| Linda with Brion - Galveston 2006 |
As we got into our late 50's and 60's, we wanted to get back to the church. God had brought us together, watched over us, and given us the best marriage imaginable. We wanted to be able to express our thanks. Liz Loynes had taken us to Webster Presbyterian Church for special services occasionally. Thus we joined WPC in 2006. Linda became active in several woman's groups, bible study etc. In 2008 she took the training with Liz to become a Stephen Minister. Linda was proud of this accomplishment. It allowed her another outlet to spread her love and caring to persons going through bereavement. Linda's memorial service was at WPC August 27, 2011.
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| WPC Morning Break woman's group |
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| WPC Stephen Ministers |
I was always amazed how well she dressed, kept up on fashion etc. Of course she read Vogue every month. Even on casual affairs she was 'simply elegant'. It was a pleasure to be her husband and be seen with her.
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| Sailing on Galveston Bay on Loynes boat - Linda looks like she is on a yacht in Monte Carlo |
To keep up with her cooking, she always read Gourmet or Bon Appetit. In the last decade, she watched the food network etc.
She would have made a great interior designer or decorator. As well as doing our houses, she was always ready to help friends if they asked. She always read Veranda, Architectural Digest, Southern Accents, Southern Living, Martha Stewart Living etc. We had these magazines all over the house.
Well, that about summarizes Linda's life in photos - family, friends, houses, pets, vacations and church.
Neither Linda or I had ever been sick during our entire 40 year marriage. We had a number of routine operations, but neither of us ever spent a day in hospital for an illness. I had never even missed a day sick from work. So why did she get a catastrophic cancer? When we got the diagnosis in January, we were devastated. But she didn't ask why me? She said why not me. I had hoped that the good love we shared would keep us well, but our luck ran out.
Our family has suffered a great loss with our beloved Linda gone. We want to express our thanks again to Dr Quraishi and his staff, Dr. Brian Bradley, and the nurses and staff of the oncology floor at Bayshore Medical Center in Pasadena Texas where Linda had multiple admissions in 2011 for this illness.
Thanks to friends and neighbors especially Jan and Jim Metcalfe for assisting us in many ways large and small. The family of faith at Webster Presbyterian Church were wonderful - visiting, sending cards, bringing food etc etc. Liz and Rick Loynes, Pastor Mark and Jill Cooper and Pastor Helen Deleon were always there for us.
Thanks for all the help between the time of hospice and the memorial service. Dr. Ross Webster and his family spent hours with us to keep us company and ease the pain.
Linda, Sascha and Scott, Chantel and David send love and blessings to all of you.
PS - Please leave a comment to express what this remarkable lady meant to you. It will help the family through the grieving process. We will be able to read them over and over again, for comfort, in the years ahead. Thanks.
Here are the instructions on how to post a comment if it is unclear.
http://lindaslymphoma.blogspot.com/2011/06/lindas-lymphoma-update-how-to-post.html
