Heritage Presbyterian Church, Saturday, June 9, 2007
Pastor Bill Teng

A Service of Witness to the Resurrection
for
Roy James McDonald

(June 12, 1919 -- June 5, 2007)

Remembrances by: Rev. Bill Teng, Pastor Heritage Presbyterian Church

After not being happy with his slower than expected recovery since his last hospitalization earlier this year, Roy decided that he should go back to the hospital on Saturday, May 19 - he was admitted to the ICU. On Friday, May 25, he was being put on a respirator. I watched him with a tube down his throat, heavily sedated, and gasping for breath and didn't think he was going to make it. I said a prayer with him and the family and asked God for healing mercy and to allow him to be with us a little longer.

Against all odds, the next day, Roy was doing much better and was able to sit up. Even though he still had the tube in him, he managed to communicate by writing on a piece of paper and a small white board that Margaret had brought in for him to use. When my wife and I visited him that following Sunday, he communicated with us by writing "Hope springs eternal. Thanks be to God" - with a great, big exclamation point at the end! He was off the respirator just a few days later!

On last Thursday, May 31, Roy had another set back and was heavily sedated but then he came to again over the weekend and was able to sit up and talk freely - he was back to his old self, carrying on good conversations and making jokes. But then his heart finally gave out and passed on to be with his Lord and God in eternity on Tuesday. I believe God did hear our prayer by allowing him to have a few more good days with us!

I've always found Roy to be a consummate Christian gentleman - every time anyone walked into a room, Roy would stand up. He and Carolyn were always hospitable - it could become embarrassing when you thought you were visiting them but yet at the end, you were the one walking away feeling blessed! I believe Roy's life embodied Jesus' Golden Rule in how he treated everyone.

I can't count how many people have told me when they joined the church that the McDonalds had the most influence on them coming back to Heritage. Indeed he blessed more people than any one would ever know and now I can hear the voice of the Lord saying to Roy, "Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:21).

Remembrances by: John McDermott, former colleague of Roy at the FBI:

I want to thank Carolyn and the Pastor for letting me speak a few words concerning our dear departed friend, Roy. I first came to know Roy McDonald when I came to the Washington field office in 1964. Roy had preceded me and he was assigned to the Bank Robbery Fugitive Squad - one of the most-valued members of that squad, should I say! The squad was composed of some of the alumni that are here today - a rough-and-tumble crowd - but Roy was something of an anomaly among them. He was a soothing, leveling influence. When passions and tempers would erupt among his fellow agents, he was a calming influence. He was one of the brightest and hardworking and productive investigators that we had, but he did it in his own calm way that many of us had grown to know and respect.

Young employees in the office would bring him their personal problems and he would always find the time to listen, to calm their concerns, to give some guidance. He could have been a compulsive caregiver! If he discerned that another individual had a concern, he would respond. He wouldn't wait for the next guy to do it, he would do it. He was incapable of doing intentional wrong to any person.

Roy was a product of a rugged northern, mid-western part of our country. As referred to earlier, he was raised in the Grand Forks, North Dakota, area up near the Canadian border where temperatures can reach 35-40 degrees below zero. He once stated that it wasn't until he came south that he realized that he didn't always have to break ice to go fishing. Having spent three years in that area myself, I can attest to the fortitude and perseverance to survive and to succeed in that area - which, of course, Roy had abundance of those qualities. Back in 1940, when he applied to work for the Bureau, he actually hitchhiked from the Grand Forks area down to South Dakota so that he could appear for an interview, which was part of the employing process. He showed his resolve to achieve and to put up with hardships at an early date.

With all these challenges of his career, he was never known to say an unkind word about another person. If the actions of another person were criticized, he wouldn't join in, but he was quick to observe that there must have been a reason that was a satisfaction to that person to have taken that course of action.

He was an understanding individual. Of course, occasionally, we had our disagreements, such as the relevant merits of "Glen Fiddick and Jamison" - which were never fully resolved despite some thorough field testing - all in the interest of science, of course!

Roy so loved the people he worked with - if he heard that a fellow retiree was coming through town and would be here for a brief visit, he would arrange with the assistant and approval, of course, of his bride for a reunion in their home; so that old friends could meet and regale each other with stories from the past that might well had been forgotten.

This was a genuinely decent human being and, of course, there was that old-world quirkiness about him. He was certainly a gentleman, but more importantly, he was a gentle man. Roy was an upbeat, optimistic person with a wry sense of humor who could see a bright side to almost anything. He made us feel better about ourselves. We were privileged to call him friend.

If I may speak for the ever-thinning ranks of Roy's former fellow-FBI retirees - Roy enriched our lives, we became better (or least we wanted to become better) because of our exposure to him. Besides exemplifying the qualities of the FBI model of Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity; Roy exposed sensitivity, humility, modesty, compassion, in dealing with everyone he met. Roy walked with God - he is now in His bosoms. So let us celebrate Roy's wonderful life and may his family and friends derive comfort in certain knowledge of his eternal reward.

I would have one last assignment for Roy, and that is to pray for all of us who remain - because he now certainly has the best connections!

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