Ann MacDonald

April 11, 1932 – April 24, 2021

Ann lived a full life and passed peacefully at home, surrounded by her six children Trish, Jeannette, Rick, Carol, Paul and Linda, and the love of their spouses, 16 living grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren. She will join her husband Richard and grandson Joshua in heaven, along with her mother, father, seven older siblings, friends, and relatives, who all preceded her in death and embraced her arrival with open arms.

Funeral arrangements are at Harry J. Will Funeral Home on Wednesday April 28, 2021 from 4:00-8:00 pm, at 37000 West Six Mile Rd in Livonia, MI.

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday April 29th at 11:30 am, with final viewing starting at 11:00 am at St. Colette Catholic Church, located at 17600 Newburgh Rd, Livonia, MI.

There will be a livestream of the funeral Mass on the St. Colette Channel on You Tube, please see the link below to join.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating by selecting either of the links below for The Mitchell English Family Fund (Mitchell is Ann’s grandson) or The Capuchin Soup Kitchen.

Envelopes are also available at the funeral home

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared below for the MacDonald Family by selecting "Add a Memory".

Dear Mom,

You always taught us that family and faith are the two most important things in life, and that with them, we can get through anything. Your own family is a testament to the strong bonds and relationships that you had with your parents, sisters, and brothers. As the youngest of the eight Kurkie children, you were such a cutie and a favorite of everyone, that they all took such good care of you. In turn, when you were old enough, you took care of your brothers’ and sister’s children while they worked.

Grandma also imparted her strong faith to you. St. Cecilia parish in Detroit was the heart of the community, and the centerpiece for your entire family, from baptisms to high school graduations, to weddings and funerals. When someone in your family was sick, grandma took you with her to visit the Capuchin Monastery and pray with Father Solanus Casey. As a little girl, you were afraid of the monks who pinched your toes as they walked by you sitting patiently on the bench, your short little legs outstretched and feet pointing upward. As with your mother, Father Solanus became an important person in your life as you supported him in his work, and on his journey to sainthood.

St. Cecilia school was where you met your sweetheart, Richard, the love of your life! You married when dad was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and started your family right away. Two years later, you bought your first house at ‘Eleven-O-Thirty’ Sunset in Livonia and raised your six children there, getting us up for school singing “School Days, School Days, Good Old Golden Rule Days.” You made our home the center of the neighborhood, where friends, neighbors and extended family were always welcome, whether visiting for a few hours, or staying under our roof for weeks.

You were the glue that kept our family together and provided us with memories for a lifetime. Your hands were never idle, whether for work or for fun - cooking meals and cleaning the house, making and altering our clothes, helping us pack our beer cases for summer vacations, organizing parties for birthdays, first communions, and graduations, getting us to help dad with his home-improvement projects. Along the way you taught us how to do these things, and so much more, on our own, so we could share the workload with you, and take these skills to our future lives.

You watched over us at all ages, perhaps more so as teenagers with drivers’ licenses. We thought you might have rabbit ears as your radar always knew the hour, minute, and second any of us came home at night, even if we coasted into the driveway with the car engine off and tiptoed into the house carrying our shoes in hand.

As we graduated from high school, then college, got married and started our own families and careers, you shared yourself with us in so many ways – from babysitting your grandchildren and celebrating the milestones in their lives, to following the adventures of those who lived overseas, celebrating Stanley Cup wins by the Red Wings, and hosting spectacular Christmas gatherings.

You taught us so much about love as you cared for dad for over 20 years as Alzheimer’s gradually took him from you and from us. These were challenging times for you, but your daily care of dad was gentle and kind, and your love for him continuous. You remembered the fun times you had together and missed him dearly.

Living alone these past eight years, you always made sure you had a purpose in life, even after your stroke five years ago. Although your vision was slightly impaired and your arthritic hands painful, you resumed crocheting, making afghans as remembrances for family members. When the afghans became too much for you, you shifted to making hats – lots of hats - for family members and friends and donating them to churches to give to the poor.

You also perfected the 45-minute goodbye when anyone came to visit, letting them know how much you appreciated their visit, watching from the doorway, waving goodbye and blowing kisses until they were out of sight. You always made sure to share the news and the joy you felt about your visits and phone calls with everyone else the next time you talked with them.

As a woman of faith, you prayed for every one of us, asking God to watch over, heal, help, bless, and keep us and our families, friends, and those in need. During the past few years, you would say your nighttime prayers out loud, conversing with Jesus as if He was sitting right next to you, telling Him all the events of your day, and seeking divine intervention for anyone who needed special prayers. Your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren know the power of your prayers and have witnessed miraculous results. If you did not believe in the power of prayer, you would after she prayed for you!

And now as we say our final goodbyes, we know that the butterflies have carried you to heaven to be with Jesus, Mary, dad, and all your family members and friends who have gone before you and are dancing and twirling with you now.

We love you mom, grandma, great-grandma,

and we will hold you in our hearts forever