January 27, 1928 - May 16, 2019
Carol Louise McDonald (Larson) passed away on May 16, 2019, in Port Townsend, Washington. Carol was born January 27, 1928, in La Grande, Oregon, the second daughter of Orin and Mina Larson. Carol graduated from La Grande High School and Brigham Young University, and become an elementary school teacher in Portland, where she met dental student Hector McDonald.
"Carol Larson marries a Canadian" read the headline in her hometown newspaper. In 1951 she and Hector moved to his hometown of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, where their six children were born within six a and a half years. Raising a large family did not slow Carol down. She became a trophy-winning curler and, with all her children in the stands, patrolled center field and batted for power as Wahl's Boat Yard won the 1963 city softball championship. She still has the team jacket.
It was in Prince Rupert that Carol began working as a U.S. Immigration officer. In the early 1960s the Alaska Ferries began operating out of Prince Rupert and the immigration office could hire only Americans. Someone remembered the dentist's wife was an American and that started another career, which continued when the family moved to Victoria in 1968 when Hector became an orthodontist. While living in Victoria, Carol bought a second home in Sequim, Washington, where she and Hector lived for many years. Family lore says she was early for the ferry one day and pulled off the highway to look around. "We bought a house," she told Hector when she got home.
Carol and Hector traveled widely through Europe and North America, where she took her daughters on a trip every year. And she stood on the Great Wall of China with one son before that was trendy. She was a voracious reader and really loved a good shopping trip. Carol's love of sweets and movies came from her days as a teenage usher in the La Grande Theater.
Hector passed away in 2007. Besides her children Dave (Jackie), Susan, Bruce (Joan), Ross (Cathy), Sandra (Jim) and Scott, Carol McDonald, who married a Canadian, leaves behind her sister Nona Hakanson of Troutdale, Oregon, 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, and a lot of laughter. A small family service will be held near her home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hector and Carol McDonald, who married a Canadian, leaves behind her sister Nona Hakanson of Troutdale, Oregon, 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, and a lot of laughter. A small family service will be held near her home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hector and Carol McDonald Scholarship at the UVic Development Office, P.O. Box 3060, Victoria, B.C., V8W 3R4.