Jean Lynelle (Burroughs) MacDonald of Sandy, Oregon, passed away from lung cancer at home on November 2, 2019, in the loving care of family and hospice.
Jean was born July 3, 1935, to Stanley and Jan Mary (Miller) Burroughs in Portland, Oregon. She earned her diploma from Benson High School taking night classes at the then all-boys school.
In 1951, while working as a roller-skating carhop at a Portland drive-in, she met Murray Roy MacDonald. Jean and Roy married June 25, 1952; they celebrated their 64th anniversary shortly before Roy’s death on July 4, 2016. Until late 1954, they lived near the U.S. Army base in Anchorage, Alaska, where Roy was stationed during the Korean War. They lived a modest but happy life, from 1955 through 1975 in Portland, and since 1976, just east of Sandy. Jean was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Odille Newton, and her beloved husband. She’s survived by her sister Louise Casey of Gresham; Jean and Roy’s three kids, Debra (and Mark Peterson), Daniel P. MacDonald, and Shari (and Craig Strong); and eight grandchildren: Ryan Peterson, Isaac MacDonald, Naomi Becker, and Dasha, Alina, Eugenia, Will, and Mac Strong.
Jean, a 22-year breast cancer survivor, was a homemaker and devoted wife, mother, and grandmother. She loved drawing, needlework, crafts, and sewing, making her the perfect Cub Scout den mother. An accomplished piano player, she played the organ until arthritis intervened. She loved crosswords and music and musicals, with favorite singers including Josh Groban and Charlotte Church, Robert Goulet, and Barbra Streisand. She was a patient, attentive listener and would laugh genuinely at every joke her husband, kids and grandkids told—no matter how lame the joke.
Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society, Legacy Hospice, or a humanitarian aid organization.