LaDonna G. McDonald

LaDonna G. McDonald was born on August 24, 1919 in Elmore, Minnesota, the daughter of Clarence and Grace (Larson) Gaard. After graduating from Blue Earth High School in 1937, she attended business school in Mankato and settled briefly in Owatonna. She joined the Women''s Army Corps in 1943 and was stationed in Dutch New Guinea. After the war and her honorable discharge, LaDonna worked as a civilian with the Allied Occupation Forces under General MacArthur in Tokyo, Japan. There she met and married Army Captain Arch "Mac" McDonald, from York, Alabama. The following years brought assignments to Germany and states including Virginia, Florida (while "Mac" was stationed in Saudi Arabia) and Wisconsin. Six children were born, none of them in the same place. After retirement from the military, the family lived in Golden Valley, but eventually moved to LaDonna''s hometown, Blue Earth. LaDonna and Mac enjoyed travelling and were dedicated snowbirds to Phoenix for many years. LaDonna always enjoyed her family, her church, playing bridge, needlework and occasional collecting. She was an inveterate correspondent with family and friends near and far, she loved keeping scrapbooks and dabbling seriously in genealogy, tracing her family''s roots to Fister, Norway.LaDonna is survived by five children, Eugene ( Linda) McDonald of Eagan, Minnesota, Susan (Paul Bonney) McDonald of Smithfield, Virginia, Margaret (Matthew) Anderson of Webster City, Iowa, John (Debra) McDonald of Blue Earth and Glen McDonald of York, Alabama, 1 brother, Arthur (Dorothy) Gaard of Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, 13 Grandchildren & 4 Great Grandchildren.She was preceded in death by her husband Mac, her son Thomas Arch, two brothers, Thomas and Donald Gaard and three sisters, Audrey Roforth, Ruth Armstrong and Anne Newman. In lieu of flowers, please make donation''s in LaDonna''s name to St. Luke''s Lutheran Care Center in Blue Earth, Minnesota.