Sandy resident, Mary McDonald died at Legacy Mt. Hood Medical Center on Friday, November 6, 2009. She was 79.
A Funeral Service will be held at Sandy Funeral Home on Thursday, November 12, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. A private burial will follow at Sandy Ridge Cemetery.
She was born, Mary Katherine Lindwall on June 8, 1930 in Sacramento, California. She spent the first several years of her life in the Tillamook, Oregon area before coming to the Sandy area, where she graduated from Sandy High School. She married Orville H. Bessant in 1948, and the two had a large family—six children. She re-married in 1971 to James McDonald, who preceded her in death in 1988. Her oldest son, Tom Bessant, preceded her in death in 2007. She is survived by five children, Stanley Bessant of Sandy, Lida McKinnis of Sandy, Brenda Wright of Alfalfa, Oregon, Claudia Bessant of Phoenix, Arizona, and Amy Hudson of Spokane, Washington. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Denyell Cruise, Milo Budd, Sarah Bessant, Josiah Balderas, Jeshua Balderas, Jacob Balderas, and Gabriel Tanner; and eight great-grandchildren, Lisa Bessant, Shannon Noakes, Orion Hill, Lily Hill, Grace Hill, Joselyn Ellis, Jamie Ellis, and Keyana Balderas.
One of Mary’s passions was cooking. She learned to cook as a child, when she lived with her mother and two brothers in logging camps during the Great Depression. Mary’s mother was the camp cook, and it was Mary’s job to help with chores. Mary worked in many local restaurants and ski resorts during the 1950’s and 1960’s. She took a “break” during the 1970’s, cooking only for her large, extended family, until she went back to work for the Clackamas County Head Start program in 1978. She loved cooking for the kids, serving over 100 meals twice per day. She retired from the program in 2002. Through these avenues, Mary probably fed half of Clackamas County’s population at one time or other in their lives.
She was also known for her quick wit, and always had a joke or story to tell. She had a kind and generous heart, and she will be missed by many.