Alice M. McDonald
Alice McDonald of East Hampton died of colon cancer at her home on Friday, December 9. She was 82.
Born July 28, 1929, in Brooklyn to Nicholas and Alice DeVenere (née Ferrera), she spent her childhood and early adult life in Leonia, New Jersey, and spent summers in East Hampton. It was during one of these summers when Alice was still a teenager that she met and befriended her future husband, Donald McDonald, an East Hampton native. They married in 1959 and spent the next 52 years together in East Hampton and Delray Beach, Florida.
Ms. McDonald lived a long life that was full of different experiences. She had a great capacity to see the bright side and appreciate the everyday aspects of her life, survivors said. After graduating from Keuka College in 1951, Ms. McDonald worked as the secretary to the president of BBDO advertising agency in Manhattan. She loved her job and the city. When she married, she moved to East Hampton and took on being a wife and mother with the same energy and devotion she had for her job. Instead of the big city, she embraced her family, nature, fishing, cooking, painting, mastering crossword puzzles and traveling. With her husband, she visited 130 countries in her lifetime. In her late 40s, she started Bermuda Party Rentals and grew it into a thriving business that she relished. She ran the company until her 82nd birthday, this past July.
Ms. McDonald is survived by her husband, Donald; three children, Stephen McDonald of Costa Rica, Tom McDonald of East Hampton, and Donna McDonald of California; a sister, Deloris Dewaal of Florida; and four grandchildren.
Visitation took place on Thursday, December 15, at Yardley & Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton. A funeral service was held on Friday, December 16, at the Most Holy Trinity Church, also in East Hampton. Interment followed at the Catholic cemetery on Cedar Street.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Smile Train, P.O. Box 96246, Washington, D.C. 20090-6246.
on Dec 20, 2011