Harry Pelot McDonald

Harry Pelot McDonald, M.D. was born September 1, 1923, in Sumter, South Carolina. He was the youngest son of Samuel James McDonald, Sr. and Adelaide Palmer McDonald. His father worked for the railway postal system, taught at Claflin College and was President of the Sumter NAACP. His mother was a music teacher and homemaker. He graduated valedictorian of his senior class at Lincoln High School in Sumter. He earned a B.S. degree with honors from Morehouse College. At the age of 22, he earned an M.D. degree from Meharry Medical College. He completed an internship at Harlem Hospital in New York and began a residency at Kansas City General Hospital. Dr. H.P. McDonald began general practice in Fort Smith, Arkansas in 1949. He interrupted his practice to serve as an Air Force captain in Ashiya, Fukuoka, Japan from 1954 to 1956. Upon returning the U.S., Dr. McDonald married Margaret Bowling, a college professor of Columbia, S.C. in 1956. They settled in Fort Smith in 1957. They raised four children, Jan, Anita, Palmer and Maria before divorcing in 1970. Dr. McDonald would later re-marry Ruby Bultman, a school teacher from Sumter, in 1976. Dr. H.P. McDonald became a giant in helping his local and state communities. He was active as a lay leader and trustee of Mallalieu United Methodist Church. He served for over a decade as President of the local NAACP leading the civil rights effort to racially integrate the school system. His name was placed on the Wall of Tolerance in Birmingham, Alabama. He was also a member of the Fort Smith Progressive Men's Club; and the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Dr. McDonald was appointed to the Arkansas State Board of Education in 1978 by Governor David Pryor and re-appointed in 1987 by Governor Bill Clinton. He was appointed by Governor Clinton to the Criminal Detention Facilities Review Committee in the 12th Judicial District in 1984. In 1990 Clinton would honor his friend, Harry McDonald, as the keynote speaker of his retirement celebration in 1990. After retiring from medical practice in Fort Smith, Dr. McDonald became a medical missionary, providing free health care in Haiti under the Christian Mission of Pignon. In 2006, Harry and Ruby McDonald moved to Richland, Washington where his youngest daughter, Maria McDonald McNamar and son-in-law, Edward McNamar, cared for him through his twilight years. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 15, 2012 at the age of 88. Harry P. McDonald is survived by his wife, Ruby Bultman McDonald and his four children: Jan McDonald, M.D.; Anita McDonald Austin, M.B.A., M.Ed.; Palmer McDonald, M.B.A., Ph.D. and Maria McDonald McNamar, M.I.T. His six grandchildren: James Nelson Austin; Christopher Palmer Austin; Edward DesChamp McNamar; Perry Allan McNamar; Arlyn Tipton Brown and Nina Tipton Brown. He is survived by seven nephews and nieces: Reynard McDonald, M.D., Verna Thomas Morton, Charles Bush, Bruce Palmer McDonald Jr., Gail Palmer McDonald, Edmund Morris McDonald Jr., D.D.S. and Eulalia Bacote Brown. He is survived by three in-laws: Octavia McDonald, Edward McNamar and Janna L. Brown. The memorial for Dr. Harry Pelot McDonald, MD is Saturday, April 28, 2012 at 4 p.m.. at Bethel Church, 600 Shockley Road, Richland, Washington 99352. Send flowers to Columbia Memorial Funeral Chapel & Gardens (224 South 24th Ave., Pasco, Wash. 509-547-4212) or in lieu of flowers, please donate to the Clinton Foundation Haiti Relief Fund in our father's name: https://re.ciintonfoundation.org/McdonaldTribute.