Steve McDonald

MCDONALD SPAHN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/21/2010 at 20:18:36

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Steve McDonald
By Elna McDonald

Elna Spahn was born on October 9, 1911, in Schleswig, Iowa, graduating there from high school in 1929. She moved with her family to Salix, Iowa, in 1931. Here she met Steve McDonald, a machinist and mechanic, whom she married on October 26, 1940. To this union a son, Ray, nicknamed Bud, was born n April 18, 1942.

Bud graduated from the Salix high school in 1960, the year before Salix consolidated in 1960, the year before Salix consolidated into the present Westwood district. He attended college at Brookings, South Dakota, where he received his degree in electrical engineering, as well as a commission in the Air Force, after four years of R.O.T.C. Bud married Frances Soule from Sioux City, Iowa, after graduation. They spent the first two years of their married life at Andrew Air Force base, after which Bud was sent to the Philippines. His wife, Frances, could not join him for seven months when he was unable to find proper housing. During that time she worked for the Sioux City Board of Education as a secretary and also for the Pratt Younglove employment agency. After four years in the service they settled in Roseville, Minnesota. Bud was employed for nine years at the Control Data Company, and presently is employed as a staff engineer at the Medtronic Company.

Margaret McDonald the mother of Steve came to Salix from Boston, Massachusetts, (her maiden name was Van Ember) in 1933 and made her home with them until her death at 92. She was buried on her 93rd birthday. She lost her husband, Daniel, when their oldest son, Robert, was six, the second son, Steve, was four, and her infant son was just two weeks old. Life was quite a struggle for the family. After the children were grown, she worked as a nurse at the Peter Van Brink hospital in Boston for many years. This knowledge came in very handy when she was asked by friends in Salix to assist in nursing during illnesses. Margaret was a member of the Salix Study Club. She died in 1969 and is buried at Graceland Cemetery, Sioux City.