Keith was born in the spring of 1922 in Detroit, Michigan, to John Alexander and Bernadette (DeLisle) McDonald, who later had two more children, Ila and Ross. He grew up in the Detroit area, but some of his fondest childhood memories were of spending many happy summers with his French-Canadian grandparents, “Grand-mere” and “Grand-pere”, on their farm on Sugar Island in northern Michigan.
In 1943 Keith was drafted and served his country as Staff Sergeant in Company B of the 276th Infantry Regiment of the US Army. He fought in France during WWII, was wounded in combat, and was awarded two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
When he returned home he went to work briefly with his dad doing construction in California before returning to Michigan and meeting a beautiful redhead, Marcelene Esther Eberle, who worked for Michigan Bell Telephone Company.
Keith and Marcy were married on Aug. 7, 1948, at St. Raymond Church in Detroit, with a reception at Rotunda Inn in Pine Lake and honeymoon at Higgins Lake. In the years to follow they bore three children---Patricia Ann, Carolyn Marie and Stewart Raymond.
Keith went to work as a machinist for Micromatic Hone Co., the “Arsenal of Democracy”, on Schoolcraft Boulevard in Detroit, and also attended night school to earn an associate engineering degree. In 1960 he moved his young family to the small village of Oadby, outside of Leicester, England, where he worked for Micromatic’s sister company, Jones and Shipman. Two years later Keith’s job took him and the family to Lausanne, Switzerland where he worked in international machine tool sales and travelled all over the world on business. In 1963 Excello Corp acquired Micromatic, and Keith and the family returned to the US where they settled in Union Lake, Michigan. Keith continued to work for Excello, relocating in later years to Roselle, Illinois. After retirement Keith and Marcy decided to get out of the snow and headed south to New Port Richey, Florida, north of Tampa. They made lots of great new friends there, many newly-retired just like themselves, and spent some of the happiest years of their lives with this group taking cruises, enjoying golf outings, and dressing up in togas and other hilarious costumes for Halloween.
In 1998 Patty, Carolyn and Stewart threw their parents a grand 50th anniversary party and gave them a trip to Hawaii, which Keith had never wanted to visit but which he ended up loving. Later Keith and Marcy moved to a golf community in nearby Spring Hill where they acquired a new set of wonderful friends including Roseanne Quinn, Al and Eve Gill, Peggy and Larry Walker, Donna Quinn, Pat and Dave Gilligan, and many others. When Keith started to get wobbly on his feet, they moved out of their villa and into nearby Salishan Retirement Community Center, but Keith didn’t really care for “independent living” or the cuisine. After Patty’s wedding in June 2018 in Jackson Hole, WY, the family made the difficult decision that mom and dad should move out west to be near family. Keith and Marcy moved in with Carolyn in her condo in Denver, CO., their final home until Keith suffered a sudden, fatal heart attack while in the hospital for intestinal issues.
Keith was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle and friend to so many. He and Marcy had a long and wonderful marriage, travelled widely, and had just celebrated their 71st anniversary. He was a strict but loving father, raising his three children to know right from wrong and always stand up straight with shoulders back. His brother Ross fondly recalls their last time together when they were accidentally locked out of the house and spent several hours talking on the porch. Grandpa Keith’s heart, like that of so many others, broke in a million pieces when his little grandson Ryan was killed at age 9 by a drunk driver. Over the years Keith and Marcy volunteered at their local Catholic Church St. Hillary’s, played pinochle, and bowled on various leagues. At their first house on Winston in Redford Township, Keith set up a darkroom in the basement and built a brick barbecue in the backyard where he grilled the best barbecue chicken on the block. He was a lifelong golfer, and played with family and his many golf buddies from his early years into his 90’s. He loved taking car rides and exploring, raising flowers and herbs, watching baseball on TV, and rooting for his Tampa Bay Rays. But it was after retirement that he found perhaps his greatest passion, cooking. Every night in FL he could found in the kitchen, wearing his apron and reading his French cookbook before turning out mouth-watering meals, always with a glass of wine nearby. No one else including Marcy was allowed to wash his pans or his wine glasses because no one else could do it the way he wanted (no soap!). When Keith and Marcy moved to Colorado, Keith became Carolyn’s private chef and continued producing feasts even while on a walker, finishing every gourmet meal with a huge mound of ice cream swimming in French brandy.
He is survived by his wife Marcy McDonald; children Patty McDonald and husband Jeff Fuechsel, Carolyn McDonald, and Stewart McDonald and wife Karla; granddaughter Karie McDonald and Jeremy Fraizer; great-granddaughter Kylie Fraizer; brother Ross McDonald and wife Mona; nephews Sean McDonald, and Matthew McDonald and wife Jennifer; grand-nieces Madison, Riley, Alivia, Teresa and Julie McDonald; and many wonderful friends. He is predeceased by his grandson Ryan Keith McDonald, sister Ila Rose Broyles and niece Kathleen Favors.
A memorial service celebrating his life will be held at 11 am on Friday, September 27, 2019 at Olinger-Hampden Mortuary and Cemetery, 8600 E. Hampden Avenue, Denver, CO 80231, ph. 303-771-4636. It will be followed by a 1:15 pm interment at Fort Logan National Cemetery , 4400 W. Kenyon Avenue, Denver CO 80236, ph. 303-761-0117. Afterwards family and friends are invited to an open house at 9400 E. Iliff Ave., Apt. 62, Denver, CO 80231, ph. 720-260-7611.
“That man is a success – who has lived well, laughed often and loved much, who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of children, who has filled his niche and accomplished his task, who leaves the world better than he found it, who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauty or failed to express it, who looked for the best in others and gave the best he had.” – Unknown
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