Overview

My dad, Keith Barclay John MacDonald, loved airplanes.  You could argue that it was the engines he loved for he learned to become a mechanic and work on all types of engines.  It was during his military career that he really learned about airplane engines, bodies and more.  So, I think he loved the whole airplane.

I do not know when this obsession with airplanes began? My Dad never talked about his life only in little comments he made here and there. I did not realize till later that I was not asking questions and the right questions and stopping to take the time to listen.  I hope that you will not make that mistake.  My advice is to ask your family now!

I have learned that there was a major air show in Spokane back in September 1927 called the Spokane’s National Air Derby and Air Races. It was held at Felts Field which is right  in Spokane, Washington. My dad might have known about airplanes before this show, but he may have really decided that this was what he wanted to do when he attended and I know my dad would have attended, he was a very curious person.  The HistoryLink website has many articles on Washington State History, their Essay #7924 covers the National Air Derby and Air Races that occurred on September 21, 1927 http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=7924.  At the time of this air show my dad was attending high school at Gonzaga in Spokane and he was enrolled in the mechanics course.  He was interested in learning about engines at that time and I am sure the school knew about this air show.  So by high school he was heading in the direction of becoming a mechanic.

This blog will cover:

1. My Dad’s life.  His life spanned from 1910 to 1970.

2. Dad’s ancestry back to the Revolution and the Mayflower.  He told me one day in passing that there was Mayflower but he didn’t know the lineage at that time. He was a patriot and loved this country.

3. His parents Ronald S. McDonald and Grace Ammarilla Barclay.

His mother Grace’s family is huge and has surnames like Spracklin, Goss, Cooley, White, Haywood, Wolcott, Delano, Keller and much more.  These lines lead to the Revolution and the Mayflower.

3. This blog will cover grandparents Archibald and Mary McDonell and George Angus Barclay and Ammarilla Spracklin Barclay and their other children.

His father Ronald was a lumberman. The McDonald’s came from Canada.  The Upper Ottawa River covers an area that includes the towns of Chapeau and Chichester.  These towns are located in Quebec.  Across the river on the Ontario side is the town of Pembroke.   My father’s Barclay side came from Pine River, Cass County, Minnesota.  McDonald and Barclay families are of Scottish origins and I will share what I know of those families, although I have not yet made the leap to Scotland.  I have dabbled a little.

4.  We will cover my father’s siblings and their lives for he was very devoted to them. He was the youngest of 6 siblings, two had died.  The first baby and the last after my dad.

As for descendants of the McDonald’s there were only two in my father’s family that had children.  My father of course had three children.   My brother had two daughters and they have children.  My sister and I do not have any children unless you include cats in that description.

The other to have descendants is my father’s sister Jean.  She had a daughter named Katherine/Katy or Kate.  Katy had four children from her first marriage and one daughter from her second.  They are all grown with children of their own and grandchildren.

Because of privacy issues I will not talk to much of these living descendants unless I feel it will help with the explanation and then carefully.

5. There will be information on my mother Marjorie Boardman MacDonald

My mother’s ancestry covers surnames like Boardman, MacMurray/McMurray, Brown and Ward.  These families have roots in Canada and more specifically in New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.  Her grandfather Edmund Boardman may have come from Lancashire, England.  The MacMurrays may be Scottish.  My mother had 2 other siblings.  Her brother Robert better known as Uncle Boardie had a daughter who is living.  Mom’s older sister Hazel Aileen or Aunt Aileen married but she did not have children of her own.  She did gained step grandchildren.

Be patient with me, I am learning WordPress and it might take a while for me to get up to speed.

Let’s get started.