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Greenfield, NY - Allen Joss MacDonald, beloved wife, mother, and educator, died on September 12, 2025, after a courageous battle with dementia. A longtime resident of Washington, D.C., she passed at her home, Prestwick Chase at Saratoga, at the age of 91.Born on October 3, 1933, in Indianapolis, IN, to Elizabeth Eleanor Joss (née Taylor) and John Hubbard Joss, her family moved to D.C. in the late 1930s. In her early years, she also spent many memorable summers in the family home on the shores of Lake Michigan in Leland, MI.She attended D.C. public schools and moved to Madeira School in McLean, VA, for high school, before earning an MA from Smith College (Holyoke, MA) in 1955, where she majored in government and spent her junior year abroad in Geneva, Switzerland. She subsequently attended Harvard University and earned an MA in Education in 1957.Living in D.C., she was introduced by a mutual friend to Julian F. (Pete) MacDonald, Jr., a member of the U.S. Foreign Service. The couple married on June 13, 1959, in the Bethlehem Chapel of the Washington National Cathedral. In overseas postings in Oberammergau, Germany; Moscow; and Dacca, East Pakistan, she found ways to deepen her understanding of their host countries and carried out the often-undefined role of a diplomatic officer’s wife with dedication and imagination. She and her family also found time to visit Greece, Yugoslavia, and Kashmir, as well as take a memorable boat trip on the Red Sea, highlighted by a visit to the Pyramids.She was a dedicated elementary-school teacher throughout her career, first as a reading specialist at the Calverton School (MD), and then as a primary-school team-teacher at Green Acres School (MD). Later, she taught mathematics at the Lab School of Washington, one of the first schools in the nation to recognize and serve students with learning disabilities, and became a co-founder of Educational Assessment Associates, which partnered with the George Washington University to provide diagnostic testing analysis to learning-challenged individuals. It was her passion to understand the learning styles and personalities of these individuals and to work with them to enhance their lives.Along the way, she pursued her interests in the arts (painting, ceramics, and singing), plants and gardening, Chinese Calligraphy, and yoga. She took numerous classes at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and volunteered at the US National Arboretum and Tregaron Conservancy. Her lush, diversified backyard garden in her last Cleveland Park home – dozens of diverse plants on a steep, rocky hillside – is a monument to her creativity and perseverance. She is survived by her sister, Natalie Boehm (Indianapolis, IN); her husband, J.F. MacDonald (Greenfield, NY); and their children, Peter MacDonald (Saratoga Springs, NY) and Katherine Sternbach, and her husband Yaron Sternbach (Loudonville, NY); in addition to six grandchildren: Margaret MacDonald (Schuylerville, NY), Talia Sternbach (Ann Arbor, MI), Zach Sternbach (NY, NY), Robb MacDonald (Schuylerville, NY), Sarah Sternbach (Phoenix, AZ) and Jake Sternbach (Minneapolis, MN). She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Frederick, and her sister Wendy.She leaves a legacy of devotion to her children and grandchildren, as well as her many students.Her memorial service is planned for November or December at the Quaker Springs Meeting House (NY), and her burial service is planned for this coming spring in Indianapolis, IN.Online remembrances may be made at www.burkefuneralhome.com

Allen Joss MacDonald

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