Paul McDonald

MCDONALD

Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 7/15/2016 at 12:12:40

Paul McDonald died peacefully at Walden Place in his much beloved chair. Paul was born in Davenport, Iowa, moved to Marqette, Wisconsin and then to Santa Barbara California where the family settled.
Paul was a proud autodidact and a talented writer. He could pick up any musical instrument and play it fairly well within a few hours. His high school band once opened for the Kinks at the Earl Warren showgrounds. While preparing for a trip to Europe in his early twenties, Paul self-identified on his US passport as a ‘poet’. He met his wife, Sharon, in Santa Barbara in 1979 while driving cab and writing poetry. She also drove while attending UCSB. They both enjoyed “standing by” under palm trees in their respective cabs, chatting, laughing, writing and reading between dispatched calls. They shared those interests and many others for the next 37 years.
As a teenager, Paul was set to study mime in Paris but chose instead a last minute offer to study ballet with the Joffrey in New York City. He moved back to Santa Barbara after three years of that arduous undertaking and continued writing. In 1980, he and Sharon moved back to NYC where Paul picked up his old part time job and became a manager at his favorite book store in the country, the Strand. Paul and Sharon had three wonderful years exploring and enjoying New York.
Upon the birth of their first son, Rex, the family moved back to Santa Barbara. Paul worked several jobs to support his young family. He eventually worked as the editor of the Center Magazine, a publication of the Center for The Study of Democratic Institutions, and working with his father. Paul and Sharon had their second son, Dylan, and the McDonald men were ardent Lakers fans.
In 1988, the family moved to Iowa City where Paul enrolled in the experimental and short-lived undergraduate writer’s workshop. As it has for so many, IC became home. As the children grew older, Paul coached many of their little league and basketball teams. The family was a standard feature at the baseball fields from the first round of games to the last. The family dog, George, could be heard across the fields joyfully cheering them on from the dugouts.
As his health deteriorated, Paul needed more care and moved into Walden Place. There he found a very caring community, wherein he made many friends. Making jokes and hearing people’s stories over dinner gave him a lot of pleasure.
Paul is preceded in death by his parents Donald and Virginia McDonald and his sister Teresa McDonald. He is survived by his sons Rex (Ashley) McDonald, their beloved son Henry, Dylan (Brittany) McDonald, his brother Mark and sister Anne McDonald, as well as Sharon McDonald, with whom he lived in various stages of love and content for 37 years.
His generosity of spirit, loving heart, terrific wit and amazing crossword puzzle and scrabble skills will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
 

Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen