Gordon R. MacDonald

Gordon Russell MacDonald
March 31, 1934 – October 26, 2025
Gordon was born in Hartford, Connecticut to Donald Walton MacDonald and Ethel (Seidel)MacDonald. His parents moved to CT when his father was transferred from the Atlantic Refining Company in Kettle Point RI to East Hartford, CT. In 1937 the family moved to Manchester, CT where Gordon's brother Bruce was born. In 1941 they moved to Bunker Hill Rd. in Andover CT where the boys attended the local 3 room red schoolhouse. Gordon expanded his interest in drawing and painting at Windham High School achieving awards in the Hartford Courant annual Scholastic Art Contest. He also met and courted his future wife Bette LeBaron. Upon graduation Gordon was accepted in the Graphic Arts and Illustration program at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.
After an interruption of two years in the US Army, he married his high school sweetheart and returned to Pratt Institute to finish his Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree (BFA). After graduating, Bette and new daughter Heather moved into a house on Andover Lake. Gordon set up a studio in their home and began freelancing, designing murals for Friendly's ice cream, other restaurants, and eventually banks and insurance companies. He also produced full color renderings for architects and interior decorators.
Gordon and Bette became active in community organizations, which included the local Congregational Church, county and state youth art conferences at Silver Lake, Haiti and Puerto Rico, community club plays and the Andover Historical Society. As their family increased, Bette, Gordon, Heather, Lauren, Allison and Bridget formed the MacDonald Family Singers playing and singing Scottish and traditional music for fairs, churches, Norwich Rose Festival and 13 elementary schools in Manchester, CT. In 1970 Gordon bid on and acquired a four room Canadian National Railroad Station, which was moved to a hill on Bette's grandfather's farm to become the family's summer home in Quebec, Canada. Railroad songs were soon added to the MacDonald Families' repertoire.
When the girls eventually attended high school and colleges, Gordon designed sets and appeared in Musical Theatre productions for Hebron Podium Players, Windsor Jesters, Gilbert and Sullivan of Manchester and Windham Theatre Guild. When Lauren married, Gordon and Lauren's bagpiper husband formed a Scottish folk trio called "Cairngorm". Later they added a soprano, performing for the British American Club of Manchester, 13 years for the Scotland CT annual Highland Festival, Burton Levitt Theatre, etc.
In 1977 Gordon joined the Graphic Arts department of Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, designing posters, brochures, slides presentations and art directing the 65** Pratt & Whitney anniversary book as well as art directing the "Eagle" magazine. In 1986 Gordon and Bette fell in love with and moved to a three story 1890 Victorian home in Willimantic, CT. They began traveling when Bette retired from her job as Administrator at Juniper Hill Village, Storrs, CT. Saint Petersburg Russia, Kenya Africa, Scotland, England and Wales, central Europe, Ireland, Iceland and the Caribbean were visited. After many grandchildren and several great grandchildren and a full and interesting life, Bette passed away January 14, 2017. The family felt this loss very deeply, but with the care and consideration of his daughters, Gordon carried on. Over the years, Gordon has survived a carotid artery operation, triple bypass surgery and prostate cancer.
Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Windham Theatre Guild (windhamtheatreguild.org) To send an online expression of sympathy, please visit www.baconfh.com