Mary Catherine McClung McDonald, 80, passed away during the mid-morning on April 24, 2008, in Asheville, North Carolina. Mary was born at Parsons, West Virginia, a daughter of the late William Nelson McClung and Clara Sayre McClung. She was married in 1952 to John Bosworth McDonald of Charles Town, West Virginia. Her children are Alastair Yates McDonald Odom of Asheville, North Carolina; Nelson Bosworth McDonald of Atlanta, Georgia; Laurie Megan McDonald at home in Asheville, North Carolina, who faithfully cared for her there; Sheila Leavell McDonald, Milan, Italy; Mary Cavendish McDonald, Kauai, Hawaii. Her grandchildren are Emily Nyberg, Wellington, New Zealand; Leacey Nyberg, Chapel Hill, NC; Will Odom, Asheville; Stuart and Catherine McDonald, Atlanta Georgia.


Mary's brothers and sisters are Peggy Nelson McClung Shrader, Winchester, Virginia; Andrew Colin McClung, Washington, DC; William Stuart McClung, Martinsburg, West Virginia; the late Douglas Sayre McClung; the late Natalie June McClung Myrick Burtt; the late Alan Duncan McClung; Gavin Kent McClung, Hightown and Winchester, Virginia; Clara Carol McClung Maney Gregory, Irving, Texas.


An early scholastic distinction for Mary was winning the all-county spelling bee as a fourth grader. Mary attended Shepherd College in West Virginia after World War Two, and worked her way through West Virginia University earning degrees in English literature and History. In the mid-1950s, she and Mr. McDonald moved to Cocoa Beach, Florida, near Cape Canaveral, where they enjoyed being associated with the pioneer space-flight program involving NASA at Cape Canaveral, the Air Force at Patrick Air Force Base, and RCA on the Atlantic down-range islands' missile-tracking stations. Mary's main interests throughout her life were the welfare of her family and her church affiliations. She was well-versed in current events and in the stock markets, her favorite publications being the National Review and the Wall Street Journal. At one time, Mary was one of only two women in West Virginia who certified as a private pilot of single engine aircraft.


The family will receive friends at Brown Funeral Home's South Berkeley Chapel in Inwood on Sunday, April 27, 2008, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.


Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m., Monday,
April 28, 2008,at Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church with Rev. Clark DeSarro-Raynal officiating. Interment will be at the church cemetery.

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