Joe B. McDonald

MARSHALL — Joe B. McDonald passed away peacefully in his sleep the night of October 21, 2011, at the age of 85, at his home in Leesburg, Florida.
Born in Longview, Texas, on February 24, 1926, to the late Charles Lee McDonald and Grace Sammons McDonald, Joe was the fourth of five siblings; Jean, Robert, Jack and younger sister, Judy. Joe graduated from Marshall Senior High School, where he played center on a Maverick football team that included future NFL Hall of Fame member Y.A. Tittle. Upon graduation from high school, Joe enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January of 1945, at the age of 17, with the consent of his parents. He served during WWII as a medical corpsman in the Pacific theatre.
Joe attended Southwestern Louisiana Institute, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. With the outbreak of the Korean War, Joe left college to join the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a 2nd Lieutenant. Joe returned to Marshall and worked for Thiokol at Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant (LAAP) in Karnack, Texas.
Joe married Dolores (Dee) Goforth, the daughter of C.R. and Majgene Goforth, on November 27, 1954, in Karnack, Texas. Joe and Dolores had three children, John Stephen, Melissa and David Scott. Joe served in various capacities at Thiokol at LAAP, eventually becoming a safety engineer. He became Director of Safety at Thiokol in the late 60s, and worked on projects diverse as the Saturn V rocket motor and the Pershing missile, as well as on the Gemini and Apollo rocket programs.
In 1970, Joe accepted a position with Brunswick Corporation to be the Director of Safety at their Marion and Sugar Grove, Virginia, plants, which manufactured both consumer and defense products. Subsequently, he was transferred to Chicago, Illinois, where he became the Director for Safety for Brunswick Corporation and oversaw operations for more than thirty facilities located across the United States.
Joe returned to Thiokol at LAAP in 1981. One of the highlights of his career came when he was chosen to participate in the elimination of Pershing Missiles (which he had helped build decades before) under the INF treaty with the USSR.
When Joe retired from Thiokol, he and Dee travelled extensively. Most notably, they were in Russia in 1991, during the coup d'état of President Mikhail Gorbachev. It was a standing family joke that America had fought a Cold War against the Soviets for four decades, but it only took Joe four days to bring the Soviet regime down.
Joe lost his beloved wife Dolores to colon cancer in 1993. Joe continued to travel, often with his brother Jack, sister Judy and daughter Melissa. Joe moved to Leesburg, Florida, in 2004, to be closer to his children and grandchildren.
Joe is survived by his sister, Judy of LaGrange, Texas; son, Steve and his wife, Cathy, and their son, Zachary, of Orlando, Fla.; daughter, Melissa of Savannah, Ga.; son, David and his wife, Nancy, and their children, Brandon, Bronwen and Spenser of Tangerine, Fla.; and all the friends he made wherever he traveled.
A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, November 5, 2011, at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall. A brief graveside service will follow at Colonial Gardens. The family will receive guests from 4-6 p.m. Friday, November 4, 2011, at Sullivan Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family would request donations be made to The Church Bell Fund, c/o The First Presbyterian Church, 310 N. Fulton Street, Marshall, TX 75670.
Please make condolences to the family at www.sullivan-funeralhome.com