Joan McDonald

Joan McDonald of Sauk Centre, Minnesota, died peacefully on July 6, 2009 in Alexandria, Minnesota. She lived a life rich in friendship and laughter.

Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 10 at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Sauk Centre. Inurnment will be in the parish cemetery.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Patton-Schad Funeral Home in Sauk Centre and 1 hour prior to the service Friday at the church. Parish prayers will be held at 5:15 p.m. Thursday evening at the funeral home.

Joan Marie Rumph was born on July 30, 1936 to Oscar and Jeanne (McGeough) Rumph of Waukon, Iowa. She lived in Waukon, in Waterloo, Iowa and in Chicago as a child and graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Waterloo in 1954. She attended Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and later completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in English at the University of Minnesota, Morris, graduating with distinction in 1974.Joan met her husband, Francis W. "Bill" McDonald, while they were on the reporting staff of the Waterloo Courier. They were married on April 26, 1958, at Elkader, Iowa, and moved to Sauk Centre in 1960. Joan continued her writing and editing work with articles for Vocational Biographies and the Sauk Centre Herald. Her column, "Main Street Journal," appeared weekly in the Herald for several years. Joan's monograph A History of the Minnesota Home School was published in 1976. As a volunteer, she wrote the tour script for the Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home and the display legends for the Sinclair Lewis Interpretive Center. She served on the Bryant Public Library board in the late 1970's. In addition, Joan served as consulting editor on numerous writing projects of her husband and children.Joan was an ardent fan of Minnesota Public Radio's "A Prairie Home Companion" and an avid book collector. She is remembered for her generosity, her love of books, and her commitment to social justice, especially for children. She lived by the motto, "Children are to be seen, heard, and believed."

Joan is survived by her husband, Francis W. "Bill" McDonald of Sauk Centre; her son, Michael G. McDonald of Alameda, California; her daughter, Jean Frances (McDonald) Klasen of rural Sauk Centre; her grandchildren, Lillian Marie, Veronica Rose, and Anthony Michael Klasen, all of rural Sauk Centre; and by a host of nieces, nephews, and dear friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother William Rumph of Dixon, Illinois; and by her great nephew, Jacob Rumph, also of Dixon.

Serving as cross bearer will be Laura Rumph and scripture bearer will be Jeffrey Rumph. Honorary bearers will be Jeffrey Rumph, Jerald Rumph, Laura Rumph, Matthew Rumph, Patricia McDonald, Gregory Klasen and Darren Jones.

Memorials are preferred to Minnesota Public Radio ( www.mpr.org ) and to the children's literature collection at Bryant Public Library in Sauk Centre ( www.griver.org , kindly specify Joan's name)."God's in His heaven - All's right with the world!" -Robert Browning, from "Pippa Passes"