Jeffrey Alan McDonald

Jeffrey Alan McDonald, 60, died peacefully at home on August 11, 2020, after battling brain cancer. He was born in Clarksville, TN the son of the late Earl and Charlene McDonald. 

He grew up in Lexington, KY where he attended the University of Kentucky, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. He moved to Boulder, Co where he met and married Joan, his wife of 38 years. 
Together they moved to Columbia, SC and raised their three children, Melissa, Grant and Michael. 

Jeff started working at FN America, a firearms manufacturer, in 1983 as a Machinist on the production floor; he then worked in Metrology and Gage Design. He worked the rest of his 37 year career in Engineering, his last job title as a Design Engineer in Research and Development. His job was interesting, unusual and challenging, and he liked working as part of a team, designing, building and testing new products and problem solving to improve existing products.  

He loved to take on DIY projects, and was always fixing what didn’t work or building something better. He liked classic muscle cars from the 60’s, and being outdoors, hiking, camping or kayaking. 
His family will especially miss their many hikes to waterfalls together.  

He was quiet, smart, honest, and hardworking, loved his wife and children, and who never drew attention to himself. 

Jeff and his family were longtime members of Northeast Presbyterian Church, where they made lifetime christian friends. 

He is survived by his wife, Joan McDonald, daughter Melissa McDonald of Dallas Texas; 
son, Grant McDonald of Canton Georgia; son, Michael McDonald of Carson City, NV, and 
family members in Colorado and Arizona.  

Jeff was also preceded in death by his sister, Julie Ann McDonald.

The memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday September 3, 2020 at Blythewood Presbyterian Church, 441 Rimer Pond Rd., Blythewood, SC 29016.  

In lieu of flowers please consider making a donation to brain cancer research at defeatgbm.org.

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