The Rev. Hugh Lorne MacDonald

1934 - 2021

THE REV. HUGH ROBERT LORNE MacDONALD

1934 – 2021

“MacDonald dead!” “That same MacDonald who preached around the city and taught at the College?” Yea, verily, indeed! The same chap!

Surprised to find me on the obituary page? Perhaps, but not nearly as surprised as I to be here! Not that I harboured any illusion that I was immortal, but I did have plans for the coming months. Still, as the Scots say, “Man proposes, but God disposes”, and the final curtain dropped on me on December 21st, 2021.

I thank my loved ones for allowing me to write my own obituary, for in my case it would be ludicrous to have any of the traditional phrases about there being “heavy hearts”, “deep regret”, or “great sadness” at my death. I lived a long and most happy life, and it was high time that I moved on and made room for others. I trust Jesus' promise that God's love for all of us continues beyond this world.

About my life, my only real regret is that along the way, I know that I hurt some people: in most cases, my doing so was, I hope, unintentional, inadvertent, the result of thoughtlessness, not of malice. Still, if I made your life unhappy in any way, I ask your forgiveness.

On a happier note, I loved and was loved by many friends and hope each of them knows how much he or she has meant to me. (My Scottish genes restrain me from mentioning you all by name: at so many cents-per-word, my estate would be bankrupt.) Thank you all, each one, for having enriched my life. Five men in particular stood out as faithful friends who provided me with wisdom, laughter, and joy: the late Bill Crooks and Charlie Grant, Rev. Ken Moffatt, Dr. Jim Smith, and Murdoch Robertson (Georgetown).

I must speak of June, my late wife, who at great cost to herself saved me in the darkest valley of my life and who then shared with me a happy marriage for 45 years. My three children, Janet Hannam (John), Eleanor MacDonald (Mary Louise) of Kingston, and Bruce Macdonald (Sheila) of Vancouver, also gave me great joy - while also giving me six grandchildren, Andrew, Meghan, Ian, Maida, Isabel, and Grace, and now three great-grand-munchkins, Finlay, Sophie, and Bruce.

I had the great good fortune to have been born of two wonderful people in Ottawa, John Lorne MacDonald and Elizabeth Armstrong Byce, both outstanding teachers and each a faithful and loving Christian. The youngest of three sons (I had no sisters, alas) I found an extra “brother” (when we were 4) in the Rev. John Coutts of Ottawa who went into the ministry with me and who, even after 76 years, is still my closest friend.

I became a Christian when I was 17, the most important event of my life; I claim no credit when a life is changed, it is God's love, not human wisdom, that is responsible.

Despite years of serious piano study, I found myself around 1950 being irresistibly drawn from keyboard to pulpit. Thus, after graduation from Carleton and McGill Universities, I was ordained in 1957 and so came to the Lakehead in 1962 as the very young minister of St. Paul's United Church, here to spend four of the best years of my life.

In 1970, I became a professor of the humanities at Confederation College and until 2000 had the privilege of introducing thousands of students of all ages to the wonders of Western Civilization, and of leading more than 1,000 Lakeheaders on 35 unforgettable trips to “Paris and Beyond”. I also filled my spare time with 14 years as a trustee on the Lakehead Board of Education and as host of radio shows on CJLX and CKPR.

After retiring from the College, I found joy in Gigi and Pumpkin, (my two wee Bichons who were really as children to me), joy too in classical music (especially the works of Brahms and Rachmaninoff), in antique automobiles (especially Nashes and Studebakers), in writing a number of books and articles, and in marrying hundreds of couples on behalf of our city.

To those who want to give a final salute to my life, I would say that one of the great concerns of my life was the thoughtless cruelty and suffering which we human beings inflict on our fellow creatures. There are a multitude of organizations, many of them in Thunder Bay, working to help our “brothers and sisters”. Were I not dead, I would be greatly pleased to learn that you were doing something special in my name to assist furred, feathered and finned.

Things being as they are, I suppose a memorial service will be arranged - a joyful one, please! I leave it to others to give below the details of what is planned. (Although Covid-19 will determine what is possible.) Then, in a private ceremony, my cremains and June's will be laid to rest together and forever in Mountain View Cemetery.

When John Wesley was dying, after having said farewell to his friends, he spoke his final words: “The best of all is this: God is with us!” Friends, believe it: Wesley got it right. God is forever with us and His love will never let us go.

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