Christine (Chris) Macdonald, loving mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and dear friend to many, passed away on August 13, 2018, at the age of 91, in Greensboro, NC. Chris was born on May 26, 1927 to John and Santina Gaccione of Lyndhurst, NJ. She met Malcolm (Mac) Macdonald in high school. Chris and Mac were married on September 7, 1947 and spent fifty-three years together sharing a love for family, long-term friendships, and respect for people from all walks of life. They enjoyed playing bridge and tennis, reading, traveling, attending classical concerts and plays, politics, and entertaining family and friends.
After graduating high school as a member of the National Honor Society, a student leader and member of the cheerleading squad, Chris studied at Trenton State and began a family with Mac while he was completing his Master’s Degree at Columbia University. They had six children: John (Lea), Patrice (Robert) Pilz, Keith (Terri), Glen (Sylvie), Scott (Angela), and Elizabeth (Pablo) Migoya, who all survive her. She was a loving mother who had a tireless devotion to raising each of six her children as if they were the only one.
Chris and Mac frequently welcomed family and friends into their various homes in New Jersey, Greensboro and Beech Mountain. Chris relished preparing all the food for those fun-filled gatherings, and was a consummate cook and baker—a skill she acquired from her Italian heritage and mother. Summers meant trips with the entire family to her parents’ house at the Jersey Shore, and throughout the four seasons there were countless trips to the tranquility of their home in Beech Mountain, where she and Mac found serenity in the fresh air, sweeping views, and stunning sunsets. The family carried on those memorable traditions at both places for nearly fifty years. Chris will be remembered fondly for her strong will, winning smile, zest for life, caring ways, wit, charm, elegance, and the love she gave so selflessly to everyone who knew her.
Christine was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Malcolm and her grandson, Ryan Pilz.
Chris’s 90-year old sister, Jody Piratzky, resides in Atlanta. Chris had thirteen grandchildren: Emily (Perkowski); Ryan, Christopher and Spencer (Pilz); Andrew, Daniel and Bradley Macdonald; Kevin, Claire (Grace) and Isabelle; Olivia; and Alejandro and Malcolm (Migoya). She also had nine great-grandchildren: Sophia, Adalyn, Owen, Isaac and Tayton (Pilz); Brody; and Cedar (Grace), Austin and Skyla (Perkowski).
There will be a service to celebrate Christine’s life on September 29th at Hanes-Lineberry Funeral Home Sedgefield Chapel, 6000 West Gate City Blvd., Greensboro, NC at 11:00 a.m. A visitation beginning at 10:00 a.m. will precede the service.
For those who wish to honor Christine’s life, please consider making a donation to Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro, the Alzheimer’s Association, or the Cancer Research Institute.
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