Ronald Dean McDonald

Ron McDonald was born in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the first child of Fred and Wanda Rutherford McDonald. His earliest years were in the mining camp of Mount Harris, then moving to Grand Junction in 1948. He attended Central High School, then joined the Air Force and served in Tripoli, Libya. He attended UNC for both bachelor's and master's degrees in special education. He taught at Palisade High School from 1980 to 2000. When the state accreditation team evaluated Palisade High School they made a special notation that Ron's program "was at the cutting edge of what we know to be best for learning disabled students." Ron loved the outdoors and ran, hiked, and fished all over Colorado. His true passion was golf!! He made many friends on the golf course and he especially loved Tiara Rado and Adobe Creek. He taught all his grandchildren to golf, too. Please join us for a memorial service on Saturday, August 10, at Callahan-Edfast Mortuary at 10:00 a.m. to share memories of Ron. He is survived by his beloved wife, Mary; sons, Randy (Stephanie) McDonald of Hayden; Byron McDonald of Arizona, and Shannon (Alexis) Wheat of Montana; six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.