Betsy Anne McDonald

I knew Betsy from working with her in the student peace association on 6th street in Tucson from 1966 thru 1970. I read her obit and the part I was familar with I concurred. I learned much from Betsy which I applied to the anti apartheid struggle at Berkeley in 1977 and 1985-6. The later struggle resulted in massive divestment from California to South Africa collapsing the nationalist apartheid regime. My work with Betsy involved the anti war efforts in the 1960's. Now we have arrived in the...

Betsy recruited me to socialism. I will be forever grateful to her. She was wise and caring and one of the most principled people I will ever have the honor to know. She will be missed by many, remembered by many.

I feel fortunate to have known her. Even though I only had brief interactions with her, her power of kindness, justice, perseverance and generosity was strong. She was a true inspiration and always a pleasure to see. Her many positive contributions to this world will live on.

There are many things about a long life that can't go into a brief obituary. With hope that you will forgive my poor memory for dates, here are a few: She was born in Iowa and grew up on Lomita, California (LA), when it was a small town. She graduated from Berkeley with a major in Food Science, then joined the Navy during World War II. She was stationed in Oklahoma, then Boston. She met our father, James E. McDonald, when she was his student in a meteorology class at MIT. They had their...