~~In Memory~~
Millie the Stewardess
Mildred McDonald
Aug 20, 1929 -- Jul 8, 2016
I wish to thank Susan, Millie's daughter, for passing along the sad news of Millie's passing just before her 87th birthday. Note: I will forward more information including addresses if shared.
Mildred
McDonald
August 20, 1929 – July
8, 2016
Mildred
McDonald, beloved wife, mother and sister, passed away Friday July 8 at the age
of 86.
Born and raised in Chicago,
Illinois, she was a first generation American, the second of six children of
Andrew and Marie Pilch. Millie was a
graduate of Wright Junior College and worked several years as a secretary for a
bank inside Chicago's “Loop”.
In
1952 on a visit to the Chicago airport, she talked her way into an impromptu
interview with a Delta Airlines recruiter and was hired as a stewardess. Against family advice, she moved south to
Atlanta, Georgia, and traveled throughout the southern United States in Delta's
fleet of DC-3 airplanes. It was a job
she loved, and one which took full advantage of Millie's smile and outgoing
personality.
She married John McDonald, a
graduate of Georgia Tech and native of Ashburn, Georgia, in 1953. They spent their early married life in
Detroit, Michigan, where John worked for the Chrysler Corporation, but moved
back (happily) to Atlanta in 1957, when he was hired as a pilot for Delta
Airlines.
As
a wife and career homemaker, Millie raised four daughters and took an active
role in their lives, serving many times as room mother or field-trip volunteer
in their schools. She was also an
accomplished seamstress, producing not only dozens of outfits for herself and
her daughters, but also several sets of sparkling majorette uniforms. Millie and John lived for over 40 years in
the Lake Spivey community south of Atlanta and were members of the Jonesboro
United Methodist Church. They both loved
to travel and visited locations in Europe and Asia by air, plus many destinations
throughout North America in their RV after John retired. In 2007, they moved to Huntsville, Alabama,
and settled in the Hampton Cove neighborhood.
In April of this year John and Millie celebrated their sixty-third
wedding anniversary.
Millie
leaves behind to cherish her memory her husband John, her daughter Susan and
husband Carlos Carvajal (Huntsville, AL), her daughter Karen and husband Robert
Nash (Jonesboro, GA), her daughter Janet (Atlanta, GA), her daughter Lisa and
husband David McNamee (Oldsmar, FL), plus six grandchildren and one
great-grandchild. The family plans a
Celebration of Life gathering for family and friends in Jonesboro, GA, on
August 20, which would have been her eighty-seventh birthday. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in
Millie's memory to the Huntsville Botanical Garden or the National Multiple
Sclerosis Society (nationalmssociety.org).
(The
August 20 gathering will be from 4-8pm at Bob and Karen's house)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Sztanyo, PCN Dir
death@pilotcommunication.net
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