Sheenie Maxine Joy (Mapes) McDonald (2018)

BICHEL, DEBUCHEL, HUSS, KEY, MAPES, MCDONALD, MILLER, TRAMBOLI

Posted By: Shirley Keating
Date: 11/8/2023 at 18:02:52

Ochiltree Funeral Service
Winterset, Iowa

Sheenie McDonald
December 28th - November 19th, 2018

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, November 25, 2018 at the Winterset Community Church. A private family burial will be held at a later date. Memorials may be directed to Every Step Hospice.

Sheenie Maxine Joy McDonald was born December 28 to Harold “Slim” Glenn and Vergie Bess (Huss) Mapes. (Now, it’s not often the writer of an obituary needs to clarify the very first sentence of the piece, but Sheenie is really a rather unique person after all, so clarification is needed. You will notice there is no year on the date of her birth. This was not a typo or an oversight as you might imagine. She simply didn’t want anyone to know how old she was, so it shall remain a mystery to you, too. She did admit to her grandchildren that she was 11 and a half, which proved confusing to some of them when they started actually learning math.) Sheenie grew up in Winterset, Iowa with her siblings Norma Key, Glenn Mapes and Gail (Mopsey) Mapes with whom she experienced many shenanigans. Her family will certainly welcome any stories you may have.

Sheenie met Dennis “Denny” Lloyd McDonald in September of 1961 and married her handsome sailor November 12, 1961 because November 11 was the first day of pheasant hunting season and her fiancé was unavailable that day - a fact Sheenie did not allow her husband to forget throughout their 57 years together. Denny and Sheenie were committed parents who raised their four children, Terri, Denise, Darin and Matthew in Winterset. Together they taught their children to work hard, to laugh at themselves and each other and to be loyal to each other.

The word caretaker would be a good description of who Sheenie was. In addition to her family, Sheenie loved providing care to her community through her employment opportunities as well. She worked as a CNA/CMA at Hortons and Villa West Care Centers. She went on to be a bookkeeper/administrator at Summerset Haven and finally, she was the Executive Director at Northward Plaza. Through these “jobs”, Sheenie met and maintained life-long friendships.

Sheenie loved life and embraced simple things. She loved talking with her friends during social hour (or what her family thought was her daily trip to the local Fareway) and she had a way of getting complete strangers to tell her their life stories - especially the one stranger who called her by accident and stayed on the phone with her for over an hour. While Sheenie will be missed for many reasons, her instant recall of her community’s genealogy will certainly be one. If you grew up in Winterset, lived here for a while, or, let’s be real, if you only knew her for 15 minutes, she knew who your parents were, who they married, who owned the house prior to them living there and who they dated in high school. Sheenie will be remembered most because of the way she made people feel; she was genuinely interested in each person she met and no one left her presence not feeling important and cared for.

Sheenie breathed her last breath November 19, 2018 at her home in Winterset. Her death, like her life really showed her family how important living was to her. She didn’t want to miss out on all life held for her and she accepted challenges presented to her - like the one time when she was at the IHOP and the waiter told her she would probably want the half portion because most seniors generally couldn’t finish the whole portion of the dish she wanted. Of course, Sheenie ordered the whole portion and finished Every. Single. Bite. So when she learned she had metastatic cancer and was told she had very little time to live, her family was not surprised when she rose to that challenge as well. When told she had weeks to live, she made it months. When told she had hours to live, she made it weeks. And like the loving and thoughtful person she was, she chose right before a holiday to pass making it easier for her children and grandchildren to spend time with each other - something Sheenie held dear.

Of course Sheenie has a myriad of people who will miss her. Among them are her husband, Dennis McDonald; daughter and her husband, Terri and Terry Miller and their children: Alyssa Miller, Jordan Miller, Ross Miller and his wife, Brandy and Abram Miller; her son-in-law Jeff Bichel and his children: Curtis Bichel and his wife Renee, their children Joshua, Addison and Havilah; Emily Bichel and her husband, Eric Tamboli; and Jennifer De Büchel and her wife, Shane De Büchel; son, Darin McDonald and his wife, Lissi and their daughter, Olivia; son, Matthew McDonald and his wife, Tina and their children: Laden McDonald and Bray McDonald; her brothers, Gail Mapes and his wife Cyndi and their children, and Glenn Mapes and his children and her sister’s children.

Welcoming Sheenie to her Heavenly Home are her parents, Harold and Vergie Mapes, her sister, Norma Key, her daughter, Denise Bichel and her grandchildren: Benjamin Miller and Aliya McDonald.

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