Donald H. McDonald
Dr. Donald H. McDonald “Dr. Mac” was a Winneconne area physician. He graduated from Oshkosh State Teachers College in 1942 and in that same year enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force. In 1945, he attended Officer Candidate School (Army Service Forces Medical Field Service School). He served as Adjutant and Chief Executive Officer at Army Air Force Hospitals until his discharge from Service to his Country. In 1951, he graduated from Marquette Medical School. He opened the McDonald Clinic in 1952 and was in continuous practice until his retirement in 1998. He passed away in October 2009.
During his medical career, Dr. Mac an active staff member at Mercy Medical Center, Oshkosh; Medical Director of Omro Care Center; Clinical Instructor Department of Family Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin; Adjunct Professor in the UW Oshkosh College of Nursing, and was a Charter Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. For decades, Dr. Mac offered the opportunity to high school and college students with career interests in the medical sciences to work in his clinic under the direction of the clinic staff. He was so proud when those students continued in health related careers. He felt that hard work, dedication, and access to opportunity were important for success.
He established the Mary Jane McDonald Education Scholarship in memory of his sister, Mary Jane, who passed away in 2003.
During Mary Jane’s 48 year career, she served as an educator, diversity advocate, and leader of three state and regional educational associations. When she graduated from Fond du Lac High School in the 1930s, few professions welcomed women. Traditionally, the bright and career-oriented entered the teaching profession. That is the path Mary Jane chose. At the age of 18, she taught eighth grade at Franklin School in rural Fond du Lac. For the next 11 years, she continued teaching at Franklin, while also attending summer classes at Oshkosh State Teachers College, working on the family farm, and holding afternoon and weekend jobs to pay college fees. She received a bachelor’s degree in intermediate education in 1945. She later earned a master’s degree from UW-Madison.
Mary Jane was principal of McKinley, Jefferson, and Roberts schools in Fond du Lac. At Roberts, she instituted a curriculum that embraced the arts along with basics, yet she considered parental support the key to elementary school excellence. She was the first woman elected president of the Northeastern Wisconsin Educational Association. She was also president of the Wisconsin Educational Research Association and the Wisconsin State Principals Association.
Mary Jane was an outspoken advocate of school desegregation and diversity. Her 1955 inaugural talk to the principals’ group coincided with the U.S. Supreme Court desegregation ruling that year. At a politically charged time, she urged teachers and parents to “lead children to be appreciative” of other cultures, saying “as leaders of these young people, we dare not fail. They are either an asset or a liability depending upon whether they have been trained to be tolerant and unselfish or have been steeped in hate, suspicion, and greed. America is rich in the inheritance of all ages, all races, all cultures. Our strength is in our diversity…Our tomorrow will be determined by the way we react toward the present situation.”