Frances Turner McDonald

Frances Turner McDonald was a true California girl, born in Alhambra on April 15, 1930. An only child, she was raised by her mother, Crystal (Turner) Hemenway, primarily in the Riverside and Santa Monica areas. After graduating from Santa Monica High School, and attending Santa Monica Community College, Frances moved with a friend to Wyoming. As an adventurous young woman, she was always up for excitement, from surfing on the shoulders of others along the Pacific coast, or skiing in the mountains east of Los Angeles.
After returning to Santa Monica, she pursued an opportunity to become an airline stewardess. She was hired by United Airlines, a member of the first class of stewardesses that were not required to be registered nurses, with her first aircraft being the DC-3. Her routes took her up and down the west coast and east to Denver, which introduced her to new places, and instilled and reinforced her love of travel.
She was based in San Francisco in 1952 when she met a sharply dressed Marine, Francis (Frank) McDonald, in the stairwell of their shared apartment building. As the story goes, Frank had mistakenly scuffed her shoes and promised to shine and return them to her in the morning. He did, and their fate was sealed. Their courtship moved quickly, and they eloped after their third date - much to the chagrin of her mother.
If travel and adventure was what she wished for, travel and adventure she received! Over their 56-year marriage, Frances and Frank lived in at least 16 cities, eight states and four countries (USA, Canada, India and Mexico). They added four children to the family over the first 10 years of their marriage, sharing their love of adventure with their four children and launching all of them on to college from Mexico City.
Frances wore many hats, but her top priority was her family. She was an excellent seamstress, wonderful cook, and caring mother. She was also a social dynamo and participated in many groups throughout her life, especially enjoying bridge clubs and her membership in PEO International. And, when the time came, she fully embraced and relished being a Gramma.
Frances was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Marine 1st Lieutenant Francis Ely McDonald, and two close friends and companions later in life, Rik Anderson and Pete Nixon. She is survived by her children – Patrick (Jane) McDonald of Montgomery, TX; Sarah McDonald (Richard) Bruck of Bonsall, CA; Thomas (Susan) McDonald of Issaquah, WA; and David (Sue) McDonald of Breckenridge, CO, and her cousin Bonita Stommel and her family. In addition, is survived by her seven grandchildren – Kim, Jim, Aidan, Kellen, Zoe, Claire, and Ross, and her three great-grandchildren – Rachel, Zackery and Alex, all of whom she adored.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions in Frances' memory to PEO International, a charity she supported during her life.