Lewis Lew Amborn McDonald

Lewis Amborn McDonald, 93, chemical engineer, school board member and president, YMCA board member, husband, family man, world traveler, and Christian, died of natural causes on April 30, 2016, at Crystal Oaks in Festus, Missouri. He was 93. Lew was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 22, 1922 to Lewis McDonald and Hazel Marguerite Amborn. His mother died just weeks before his fourth birthday. An only child, he was raised by his father and maternal grandmother, Florence Kate Amborn, in an apartment on Normal Avenue in Chicago.

He received both BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University, where he also joined Triangle Fraternity. During World War II, he served in the Navy, stationed at Navy Pier in Chicago, where he taught math and how to build and repair radios. As part of his master’s degree, he was involved in top secret research related to biological weapons.

In 1946, Lew took a job with Monsanto Chemical Company in St. Louis, Missouri. On March 29, 1947, he and Carol Ninon Walden of Chicago were married at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago. They began their married life in St. Louis, moving to Webster Groves in 1954. They were married for 51 years and had five children. Carol died in 1998 at the age of 74.

Lew worked for Monsanto for 40 years, retiring in 1986. During his years with Monsanto, he worked on startup and production for projects in Muscatine, IA, Central America, South Korea, and South Africa. His division produced the herbicides, Ramrod, Lasso, and Roundup.

After several years in Marlborough, Missouri, where they built a Lustron house on Pembroke Drive, Lew, Carol, and their (then) four children, James, Paul, Sally and Margaret (Peggy) moved to 20 Webster Woods, a custom house that they designed and built. This was home for the next 62 years. The year they moved to Webster Groves was also the year that Carol became a paraplegic, which confined her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Lew used his engineering skills and ingenuity to design various ways to make life easier for his beloved wife—e.g., large wooden tongs that she could use to pick up items that might have dropped on the floor or be out of reach on a counter. Lew and Carol’s love of travel took them to all 50 states and to many other countries around the world for vacations with family and friends, despite her disability. In 1964, their fifth child, Abby, was born ten years after Carol first became paralyzed.

Lew loved to play golf, and was a member of Greenbriar Hills Country Club for nearly 50 years. Greenbriar was a favorite place for family gatherings.

In 1966, Lew was elected to the school board of Webster Groves public schools. He was reelected and served as the president of the school board for another four years. He was also a board member for the Webster Groves YMCA and served in leadership roles at South Webster Presbyterian Church.

In 2008, he married Louise George Johnson, a long-time friend. The marriage enlarged Lew’s family considerably with the addition of her five daughters from previous marriages, and their husbands, children, and grandchildren.

For Lew, the crowning achievement of his life was his growing and extended family, which brought him great joy. In his latter years, he was almost exclusively focused on the lives and activities of his family.

Lew is survived by his second wife, Louise Johnson McDonald and her family; his five children and spouses, Jim (and Dean Steffy) McDonald of San Anselmo, CA, Paul (and Lynda Applegate) McDonald of Tacoma, WA, Sally (and Pat) Dolan of Parker, CO, Peggy (and Rob) Deason of Matthews, NC, and Abby (and Jim) Schwartz of Portland, OR; eleven grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Friday May 13, at 3:00p.m at Gerber Memorial Chapel, 23 W. Lockwood Ave., Webster Groves, MO 63119. There will be a private family interment at Covert Cemetery, MI, in June. Lew had a heart for helping others, and his passion was education.