Timothy Edward McDonald

Timothy Edward McDonald went home to be with his Savior on April 13, 2023. Tim passed away from a sudden cardiac event at his home after months of treatment for heart and lung disease. Tim was born on June 29, 1954 to James Edward and Betty Jean (Roberts) McDonald in Santa Ana, CA. He lived in Santa Ana almost his entire life attending Santiago Elementary School and Santa Ana High School. At an early age Tim learned to play the trumpet and it became his #1 hobby. He made many lifelong friends in the school bands and it even took him to perform in the Rose Parade in High School. He started working at Safeway Grocery stores as a student and he continued into college. Tim was a Chemistry guy and got his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry, at UC Irvine in 1976. He then went on to Cal State Fullerton to continuing his education for a Master of Arts in Chemistry in 1979. During this time Tim started dating his future wife Suzanne Pedersen, also a hometown Santa Ana native. Before he finished at CSUF he was accepted to USC Medical School and spent the next 4 years living in L.A. at the dorms or commuting from his family home on Hesperian. During his last year Tim and Sue got engaged and married on April 16, 1983 at St. Johns Lutheran Church after he finished all his requirements for his USC Doctor of Medicine degree. After a great honeymoon in Europe and skiing in Mammoth, Tim went to work on his internship to become a specialist. He did a year of pathology but finally decided to finish in Family Practice at UC Irvine where he was certified as a Family Practitioner in 1987. As Tim started working in a small group practice in Irvine for a couple years he quickly learned that the larger groups were a better fit for him. He became a partner in Bristol Park Medical Group where he continued as Bristol Park eventually became Memorial Care Medical Group. He retired on July 1, 2014 for health reasons. Family life continued through all these working years. Tim and Sue bought a house in Santa Ana on French Street in 1986. It was a total fixer upper. With the help of Sue's Dad, Alven, they spent 2 years fixing it up, doing most of the labor themselves, until it was livable. On 12/12/1990 they welcomed their first child, Kelly Kathleen and Patrick Ian arrived on 3/3/1995 and Matthew Ryan soon afterwards on 3/18/1996. They all grew up on French Street where the family home is still in the McDonald family. On September 6, 2019 Patrick married Mikaela Truckey and on November 27, 2022 added Sue and Tim's first grandchild, Kayden, to the McDonald clan. Timothy is predeceased in death by his mother Betty, father James and his brother Michael. We are all very sad that Tim is gone but rejoice that he is at peace in Heaven with our loving Savior Jesus. Services will be held at St. Johns Lutheran Church in Orange on Friday, April 21, 2023 at 10 a.m. with a reception to follow. 185 S. Center St., Orange, CA.